First India-Delhi Edition-23rd October 2022

RISHI

JOHNSON

CLAIM

London: Rishi Sunak supporters claimed on Saturday that he has

New Delhi: Outgoing Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong on Saturday described his over threeyear tenure in India as an “unforgettable period”. “I cherish all the memories in the past three years,” Sun tweeted and hoped for “evergreen friendship”.

T20 WC: CONFIDENT IND HOPING TO TURN TABLES

PAK

Melbourne: Unblemished record of success against arch-rivals at marquee ICC events a thing of the past, a hurt Indian team will be desperate for revenge against a highquality Pakistan side in a sell-out Super 12 clash of the T20 World Cup, in Melbourne on Sunday.

INTERIM BAIL EXTENDED

New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench of CJI UU Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi on Saturday extended the interim bail granted to former CMD of Amrapali Group of Companies Anil Kumar Sharma & real estate firm’s ex-director Shiva Priya on medical grounds.

HAD SENT MAY DAY CALL BEFORE CRASHING’

to air traffic control just before the helicopter crashed near Tuting in AP, indicating a mechanical issue with the aircraft.

of 100 MPs required to make

to the

the

Ex-PM Boris Johnson

for the

to replace Liz

YE DIWALI, ROZGAR WALI!

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches Rozgar Mela, a recruitment drive to provide jobs to 75,000 people in 38 Ministries/Departments of the GoI

PM Modi greeted HM Amit Shah on his 58th birthday on Saturday. “As India’s HM he is making numerous efforts for our nation’s progress. He is also doing commendable work in reforming the important cooperatives sector,” Modi said.

COURT EXTENDS JACQUELINE’S INTERIM BAIL TILL NOV

DECKED-UP AYODHYA!

New Delhi: Prime Min ister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched Rozgar Mela, the re cruitment drive for 10 lakh personnel by the Union government. The Centre will hand over appointment letters to more than 75,000 people as part of the drive.

The government is working towards softening the blow of the economic problems faced by several countries across the world in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

—Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Launching the drive via video conferencing, PM Modi said, "India is

today fifth largest econ omy in the world. In the last eight years, we've jumped to fifth position from tenth. It's true that many big economies of the world are strug gling with inflation, un employment...side ef fects of biggest crisis in 100 years can't just go away in 100 days."

Full Report on P6

Reliance Jio 5G-powered wifi goes live in India now

First India Bureau

Rajsamand: To enable 5G-for-all, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) on Saturday announced that it is introducing JioTrue5G-powered WiFi services in high foot fall areas. As a ShubhAarambh, along with JioTrue5G services, Jio has started JioTrue5Gpowered Wi-Fi services in Shrinath ji temple, Nathdwara, in Ra jasthan. While Jio users will get this service without any charge.

Akash Ambani and his wife Shloka Ambani with Vishal Bawaji at the launch of Jio 5G services, in Nathdwara on Saturday. Service to humanity is one of the most endearing facets of Indian culture, the roots of which can be found in our socio-religious traditions.In addition, we welcome Chennai as our latest city to be added to Jio True5G Welcome Offer.

Woman gang-raped in Chaibasa, SIT formed

Chaibasa (Jharkhand):

A 26-year-old woman, who works for a Bengal uru-based IT company, was allegedly gangraped on Thurs day evening at a secluded place in Chaibasa area of Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, police said. According to the police, the inci dent took place when a

Delhi choc-a-bloc with Dhanteras shoppers

New Delhi (PTI): Traf fic moved at a snail’s pace in places like Laj pat Nagar, Anand Vihar, Karol Bagh, Azadpur and many others on Sat urday as people thronged markets for shopping on Dhanteras.

The Delhi Traffic Control Room was bogged with calls from commuters from vari ous parts of the city who complained about heavy traffic at several intersections.

“Places like Karol Bagh, Anand Vihar,

group of men spotted her with a male friend.

A group of eight-ten men stopped the couple, beat boyfriend and allegedly raped woman after tak ing her to seclud ed spot. Accused beat up woman’s friend, raped her, took away phone, belong ings. SIT formed to nab the accused, police said.

This year, 106 drug traffickers detained in J&K

Srinagar: The Divi sional Administration of Kashmir on Satur day said that 106 deten tion orders had been issued during the cur rent year under the PITNDPS Act: in Srinagar (10), Budgam (10), Gan derbal (1), Anantnag (4), Kulgam (8), Pulwama (13), Shopian (4), Bara mulla (15), Bandipora (4) and Kupwara (24).

4 arrested for filming couples at OYO rooms

New Delhi: Four per sons were arrested in Noida for allegedly re cording intimate mo ments of couples by placing hidden cameras in rooms of OYO hotels, police said on Saturday.

The arrested men used to blackmail the couples, police said, adding that preliminary probe suggests hotel staff were not involved in the racket.

The arrested men –

Vishnu Singh, Abdul Wahav, Pankaj Kumar and Anurag Kumar Sin gh – could be part of three different gangs operating in Noida, po lice said. These gangs are also involved in un authorised call centers and in providing fake sim cards for illegal ac tivities. Eleven laptops, 21 mobiles and 22 ATM cards were seized dur ing the raid, police offi cials said, adding that the gang may be operat ing across the country.

Dwarka, Kondli Chowk, Najafgarh, Azadpur Mandawali, Lajpat Na gar, Connaught Place, Janpath, Laxmi Nagar have been witnessing

heavy traffic jams,” a senior traffic official posted at the Delhi Traf fic Control Room said. A resident of Sangam Vihar who had come to

shop at Lajpat Nagar market said, “Due to ex cess crowd in the mar ket area, it took us al most an hour to drive through the lanes.”

Keshav Singh, who was commuting from Gurgaon to Delhi, said he faced traffic jams on way to Dwarka and then to the centre of the city.

Shoppers at Lajpat Nagar market on Saturday. The crowded Lal Quarter market in Krishna Nagar on ‘Dhanteras’.

—PHOTOS BY PTI

First India Bureau

CHINESE ENVOY SAYS TENURE IN INDIA UNFORGETTABLE

‘ROUTE

New

Fernandez’s

crore

involving

Sukesh

directed

documents

illuminated Ram Ki Paidi

river ahead

traditional

celebrations,

Ayodhya on Saturday.

—Akash M Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited

PM MODI SENDS BIRTHDAY WISHES TO HM AMIT SHAH

THAKUR PRESENTS JOB APPT LETTERS

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur at tended the Rozgar Mela event in Chandigarh on Saturday. The Union Min ister also handed over the appointment letters to the appointees at the event.

Record sanction of Rs 7,565 crore for Raj in this year’s budget, says Minister Vaishnaw.

Moni Sharma

PM Modi launches Rozgar Mela-recruitment drive for 10L personnel, via VC, from Delhi on Saturday.

Act tough against fake rape complainant: DCW urges Yogi

Case against Ghaziabad woman for levelling a ‘fabricated’ rape charge against 5 men

First India Bureau

New Delhi: A day after Ghaziabad police regis tered a case against a woman for falsely claiming gang rape, Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Mal iwal on Saturday wrote to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, urging him to set up a high-level committee to probe the Ghaziabad incident.

The police have ar rested the 36-yr-old wom an and three others for allegedly levelling a fab ricated charge against five men with whom she had a property dispute.

The woman had al leged she was gangraped by five men for two days and they insert ed an iron rod into her private parts.

The DCW had also is sued a notice to UP Po lice on October 19.

On Saturday, Maliwal said the police stated that the woman’s allega tions are unsubstantiat

ed and they have enough evidence to prove she hatched a conspiracy against those named in her complaint.

“It must be examined as to who inflicted the

SAGAR DHANKAR MURDER

Court issues notice on accused Prince Dalal’s bail plea

injuries on her and who was responsible for in serting iron rod-like sub stance into her private parts which was re moved by GTB Hospital (as mentioned in MLC

Man found dead in 2020: Culpable homicide case on court’s direction

New Delhi (PTI):

Three years after a man was declared dead of respiratory failure, the police have registered a case of culpable homi cide in the matter on a court’s direction. On February 27, 2020, the 45-year-old man was found unconscious near Khajuri Khas red light and taken to Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, where he was declared “brought dead”, a senior cop said.

report),” Maliwal wrote.

“In case it is proved beyond doubt that the girl (woman) was active ly involved in hatching a conspiracy against the men and that she is not a victim but instead a perpetrator, I would urge you to ensure that strong action is taken against the woman,” she urged.

Woman arrested, sent to 14-day judicial custody

Ghaziabad: The wom an was arrested on Saturday soon after she was discharged from GTB Hospital.

“The woman was arrested by our police team. She was presented before a magistrate to record her statement. The court has sent her to 14 days in judicial custody,” Superinten dent of Police (City-I) Ghaziabad Nipun Agarwal said. Her accomplices Azad, Afzal and Gaurav were arrested earlier. The woman came to the hospital at 7:15 am on Octo ber 18, GTB Hospital said. “She has been discharged and the patient’s condition was stable at the time of discharge,” it said.

Man held for harassing, extorting ` 7 lakh from woman by blackmailing

New Delhi (PTI): A man was arrested for al legedly blackmailing, harassing and extort ing Rs seven lakh from a woman he loved in exchange for removing her pictures he had up loaded on various social media platforms with out her consent, police said on Saturday.

Accused Anshul Sriv astava (40), of Unnao, UP is a BSc Computer Science graduate. He was in one-sided love with the woman whom he started harassing when she did not give him attention, they said. On September 12, when a resident of RK Puram lodged a com plaint alleging that a person was continu ously harassing, threat ening and bullying her through emails and messages, they said. The accused was also uploading her pictures without her consent on social media platforms like Instagram, What sapp and Facebook in order to defame her,

they said.

Srivastava also de manded seven lakh ru pees from the woman to delete her pictures. The money was transferred to him via Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) process, police said.

Deputy Commission er of Police (Southwest) C Manoj said during an enquiry, the victim pro vided the details of the

RTGS transactions along with abusive, des perate, objectionable, life-threatening, black mailing messages and calls received from the alleged mobile and proxy numbers.

Notices were sent to Instagram, Facebook, Google and Rediff mail along with the concerned banks to get the beneficiary details, he said.

Women cops in plain clothes, vigilance squad at DU

New Delhi (PTI): Wom en police officers in plain clothes outside colleges, anti-ragging posters across campus, vigilance squad in every college and police pick ets are among the meas ures to be implemented in the Delhi University for maintaining disci pline from the new aca demic session.

A meeting of the proc torial board of the Uni versity of Delhi was held on Friday to delib erate upon measures for facilitating the smooth

induction of students during the opening of the new session.

Officials from Delhi Police and senior varsi ty officials were present

New Delhi (ANI): A Delhi Court has issued notice to police on the plea of accused Prince Dalal seeking interim bail to attend the ring ceremony and marriage of his sister. Prince is an accused in the Sagar Dhankar murder case.

Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar is one of the 18 accused in the case. Additional Ses sions Judge Shivaji Anand of Rohini Court issued notice on the plea and listed the matter for argument on October 31.

Advocate Swati Rathi counsel for accused Prince Dalal submitted

that the ring ceremony of the sister of the ap plicant has been fixed on November 2, 2022, and marriage on No vember 3 and 4.

The Court on October 15 directed to commence trial against Sushil Ku mar and 17 other ac cused after they denied the murder and other charges. The accused persons could not be produced before the judge due to security reasons.

The court had listed the matter on November 10, 2022, for the com mencement of trial and prosecution evidence.

Proceedings under section 174 CrPC were conducted in accord ance with rules, the of ficer added.

On March 11, 2020, a medical board conduct ed an autopsy of the body. On March 19, the deceased was identified as Sikandar of Chand Bagh. The body was handed over to his fam ily, police said.

The cause of death was found to be respira tory failure with no in jury on the body, they said. Not satisfied with the version, the family approached a court for the registration of an FIR and was vindicated.

during the meeting.

Several important de cisions were taken to ensure the maintenance of discipline and pre vention of ragging in

Two criminals held after encounter in Jyoti Nagar

New Delhi (PTI): Two men were arrested after a brief exchange of fire between them and po lice in northeast Delhi’s Jyoti Nagar in the early hours of Saturday, offi cials said.

The arrested were identified as Shakti ali as Sonu (36) and Sachin (24), they said. Four rounds were fired in cluding two by police in retaliation, cops added.

Police said Shakti is

ENGINEERING FEAT

listed as a “Bad Charac ter” at the Mansarovar Park police station and has been named as an accused in 18 criminal cases, while Sachin has four cases pending against him.

According to police, on Friday, two back-to-back armed robberies took place in a short span of time in the wee hours. The incidents were re ported from Ashok Na gar and Jyoti Nagar,

they said.

The modus operandi in both incidents were sim ilar i.e two persons came on a bike, robbed people of cash at gun point and fled, police said. Police said around 2 am, a team spotted two men on a bike, without number plate, near Loni roundabout on Wa zirabad road. The bike skidded and the two fell on the road while flee ing, the police said.

Meerut RRTS: Tunnelling process at Begumpul stn ends

lll

Begumpul RRTS station is being built through a top-down technique, in which it is built from top to bottom with deep excavations

New Delhi (PTI): The tunnelling process at the Begumpul station on the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) came to an end on Saturday, according to an official statement.

National Capital Re gion Transport Corpora tion (NCRTC) is imple menting India’s first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) between Delhi and Meerut via Ghaziabad.

The corridor wit nessed the first tunnel breakthrough in Meerut on October 22. Sudar

through from the tunnel at the Begumpul RRTS station.

Officials said that now the tunnelling process for further course of the corridor beyond Begum pul station will begin.

“Managing Director, NCRTC, Vinay Kumar Singh initiated the breakthrough by press ing a remote button in presence of the direc tors and other senior of ficials of NCRTC. This feat has been achieved within 4 months after

completing the boring and formation of a 750-metre-long tunnel,” the NCRTC statement said.

Two other TBMs -- Su darshan 8.1 and 8.2 -- are boring 1.8-km parallel tunnels from Bhaisali to Football Chowk, Meerut.

The statement said the Begumpul RRTS sta tion is being constructed through a top-down tech nique, in which the sta tion is built from top to bottom with deep exca vations.

Anti-ragging posters in English and Hindi have been in stalled at the strategic locations in North and South Campuses, University of Delhi.

the varsity and college campuses, a senior uni versity official said.

"In this connection, the colleges and depart ments have been re

quested to strictly en force the rules and regu lations issued from time to time, especially provi sions of Ordinances XVB, XV-C, and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Preven tion, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (14 of 2013)," DU Registrar Vikas Gupta said. Gupta said all stu dents and hostel resi dents and their parents have been asked to give an undertaking regard ing anti-ragging at the time of admission.

Five arrested, 150 bottles of premium liquor seized in raids

New Delhi: The ex cise department on Saturday busted a gang involved in adul teration of liquor and arrested five persons in this regard. At least 150 bottles of foreign liquor and 20 empty bottles were also re covered, officials said on Saturday.

The gang included some bartenders who mixed premium for eign liquor with cheap India Made For eign Liquor (IMFL) for sale to customers, officials said adding three FIRs were filed against the accused.

The excise depart ment has enhanced enforcement in city in view of the festive season. A team from the department's in telligence branch on Friday conducted raids at several plac es, it said in a state ment.

The teams, led by ACP (Excise Intelli gence Bureau) Rajesh

Meena, raided a shoe shop at Karol Bagh and two houses at Rani Bagh and Maid an Garhi, it said. One Vikram Ku mar was arrested from Karol Bagh and 69 bottles of high-end liquor were seized from him. His inter rogation led to the ar rests of Mohit and Jaipal from Maidan Garhi. Kumar had purchased the liquor from the duo.

shan 8.3 (tunnel boring machine) made a break

National Capital Region Transport Corporation officials at the construction site of Begumpul on Saturday. —PHOTO BY PTI

This is very serious, shocking and deeply upsetting ... kindly set up a high-level committee to probe the case in depth.

—Swati Maliwal, DCW Chairperson

DEMAND FOR DELETING PIC

Olympion Sushil Kumar is also an accused. (R) Sagar Dhankar.

First India Bureau

Students set up a help desk for admission seekers at North Campus.

—Vikas Gupta, DU Registrar

Teams under ACP Rajesh Meena raided a shoe shop at Karol Bagh & two houses at Rani Bagh & Maidan Garhi

Swati Maliwal

Yogi Adityanath

Diwali shopping spree makes grand return

n Electronic gadgets, mobiles most in demand n Online sellers also witnessing buyers’ rush

Manik Gupta

New Delhi (PTI): It is the season of lights, parties and gifts. And this Diwali, after a twoyear pandemic-induced lull, people are throng ing the markets to grab the perfect gift for their loved ones and keep the ritual of exchanging goodies alive.

Shoppers are once again contending with the problem of plenty, be it in deals or offerings, which has bewildered even the most seasoned buyer.

Vandana Thapa, a homemaker, played it safe and bought a mixedbag, including electron ics, home accessories to 'tried and tasted' mithai, to satiate her annual fes tival shopping cravings.

Her laundry list in cludes a bar cabinet for her brother, phone for her father, home decor items for colleagues and sweet boxes for her house help.

According to industry experts, even though gourmet hampers, fur niture and accessories,

like chic candle stands or crockery, and sweets are in huge demand, electronic devices, in cluding mobile phones and smart wearables, remain the ones to beat.

Gaurav Khatri, cofounder of technology brand Noise, said, "Dur ing the festival season, demand for electronics and smart gadgets is at an all-time high and it's no different for smart wearables segment... We speculate the industry to grow 2.2 times this sea

son while we at Noise are expecting a growth of 150 per cent."

Expecting a "truly grand" Diwali, Manish Aggarwal, director of leading packaged food brand Bikano, has set a mammoth target of "Rs 400 crore" in sales.

Sid Mathur, founder of premium mithai brand Khoya, echoed Aggarwal's sentiments and claimed that sweet meat sales at his Chanakyapuri store had gone "beyond their own

Two in 5 families in Delhi-NCR intend to burst crackers: Survey

New Delhi (PTI): The percentage of house holds bursting fire crackers in Delhi-NCR on Diwali could be the highest in five years as two out of every five families are likely to in dulge in the activity, ac cording to a survey.

Ten per cent of re spondents said they have already bought firecrackers from shops in Delhi, while 20 per cent said they have pur chased firecrackers from other cities in NCR, indicating that the ban on the sale of such items is not as effective as it needs to be, accord ing to the survey con ducted by LocalCircles.

The survey received

10,000 responses from residents of all districts in Delhi, Noida, Ghazi abad, Gurugram and Faridabad. Sixty-nine per cent of the respond ents were men, while 31 per cent were women.

"Sixty-one per cent respondents said they will not be burning any crackers either because

they are convinced that they cause pollution or because they are abid ing by the ban. The sur vey results, when com pared over time, indi cate that the percentage of families burning crackers this year is likely to be the highest in the five-year period since 2018," it said.

projections".

The festival season has set the cash regis ters ringing even louder for brands selling furni ture, homeware and soft furnishing.

"We have seen a buoy ant 50 per cent increase in sales over last year... our other fast selling products have been our bespoke candles, the poker box and Eden col lection, which are all do ing very well," said Vi kash Gupta, founder and CEO of Three Sixty, a lifestyle brand and de sign studio.

Like previous years, the online sector too con tinues to garner strong demand.

Police beef up security in crowded areas

New Delhi (PTI): Del hi Police has beefed up security arrange ments in markets, malls and heavy foot fall areas to ensure a smooth and safe Di wali, officials said on Saturday.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made, especially in markets, malls, vital installations and plac es likely to draw large crowds, they said.

Police visibility has been enhanced through intensified pa trolling and deploy

ments of extra pickets. All personnel are on high alert to thwart any untoward inci dent, they added.

Special Commis

sioner of Police (Law & Order) SP Hooda said, "In view of the festival season, we have inten sified patrolling in market areas, extra po

lice pickets have been installed and person nel deployed.

"From the anti-ter ror point of view, antisabotage checks are being done to ensure that no anti-social or anti-national elements carry out activities that can harm any body's life."

For women's safety, women cops have been deployed on the ground, Hooda added. They will also patrol major intersections on scooters to ensure a safe environment.

New Delhi (ANI): Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, an affiliate of RSS strongly opposed the complete ban on crackers by the Delhi administration dur ing Diwali, which it said is "inappropriate and aimed at hurting sentiments", besides causing a blow to em ployment of millions of workers and oth ers engaged in the production and dis tribution of fire crackers.

In a statement, it said it had urged oth er state governments to avoid a complete ban on firecrackers.

Blanket of smog covers capital before Diwali, AQI reaches 262

New Delhi (ANI): A blanket of smog en gulfed the national cap ital on Saturday morn ing as pollution level deteriorated to the "poor" category ahead of Diwali.

Overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was 262, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Re search (SAFAR).

In the morning, India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan were not visible clearly as smog covered Kartavya Path. A cy clist, Shastik Tripathi, who said, "I have been cycling for last six years here. Whenever I am cy

cling I feel suffocated. So many other people also feel the same. I came across the news that a resident of Noi da, who ran a gym, died due to suffocation. In Delhi, I am a victim of pollution."

Another cyclist, Nin gu said, "I cycle 4 km

every day but today the weather is foggy, and pollution is increasing. We are really afraid that the pollution level is increasing before Di wali," said Ningu. Nikhil, who came for a morning walk, urged people not to burst crackers on Diwali.

STUBBLE BURNING REMAINS 'SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR' New Delhi (PTI): As the air quality in the capital exceeds the National Ambient Air Quality Standards dur ing the winters, stubble burning remains a “sig nificant contributor” to Delhi’s unbreathable air in October and Novem ber, a research study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said. It further said the causes behind Delhi’s unbreathable air include a “lack of emission control technologies”.

People purchase dry fruits at Chandni Chowk market ahead of the Diwali festival, in New Delhi, on Saturday. —PHOTOS BY PTI

An employee shows an ornament at a jewellery showroom in New Delhi on Saturday. (R) A woman shops for gold ornaments in Gurugram.

Diwali shoppers’ rush at Chandni Chowk on Saturday.

Sweetmeat sales at our Chanakyapuri store have gone beyond our own ambi tious projections.

—Sid Mathur, Founder, Khoya

‘Firecracker ban is aimed at hurting sentiments’

REPRESENTATIVE PIC

VK KRISHNA MENON: NEHRU’S COMRADE AND CONFIDANT

Amelancholy anniversary passed unremembered three days ago. China’s invasion of India sixty years ago. The re sponsibility for the debacle rests with Jawaharlal Nehru, his erratic and incompetent Defence Minister, VK Krishna Menon and Brigadier BM Kaul, a favourite of Nehru and Menon. To appoint Menon Defence Minister was to give precedence to friendship over national interest.

S Gopal in volume three of his biography of Jawaharlal Nehru, writes, “On one occa sion, for example in the sum mer of 1961, addressing a large number of junior offic ers, Menon vilified the Chiefs of Staff, “Seventy five per cent of our difficulties come from Chiefs of Staff. I am not saying that they have not made up their minds, be cause they haven’t got minds to make up.”

General Thimayya, the brilliant Chief of the Army Staff, offered to resign be cause Menon constantly ig nored his advice. Gopal, a genuine admirer of Nehru had disdain for Menon. In his words, “as Menon became the Chief figure in the de monology of Indian politics and many at home and abroad saw him as Nehru’s Chief adviser in such mat ters as Goa, the Prime Minis ter’s defence of him became correspondingly more vigor ous and unqualified. “

I am more worried about the Naga trouble from this point of view than about anything the Chinese may do.”

The image of UK has taken an unprecedented beating. How have the mighty fallen. It really is absurd for Britain to remain a permanent member of the U.N Security Council. At least Britain should give up using the veto. Two days ago a billionaire Indian who has a vast business establishment in Ukraine came to see me. I met him after many years ago. His house is next to that of the President of Ukraine. He told me that the Ukraine would end by December.

I sincerely hope so.

Neither Jawaharlal Nehru nor VK Krishna Menon had the fuggiest idea of how to conduct a war. Krishna Menon had convinced Nehru that the real enemy was Paki stan and not China. Jawaha rlal Nehru at one stage ap pointed Kailash Nath Katju (1887-1968) as Defence Minis ter. He, was the despair of the Defence Ministry. The Prime Minister as late as 1957 was ‘insufficiently alert to possi ble Chinese encroachment on a major scale (Gopal), I quote an incredible pro nouncement on China by Nehru on 26 July 1956. “I am not at all sure of what China may do in ten or twenty years hence. But to protect ourselves against developments, we have to do other things and not to put up a useless Maginot Line. In particular we have to have peace, quiet and content ment on our side of the border.

YET ANOTHER ORDER FOR HARMONY’S SAKE

After the Chinese with drawl, Nehru remarked, “I do not know how I will explain to Parliament why we have been found lacking in equip ment. It is not much good shifting about blame. The fact remains that we have ap proached these things in a somewhat amateurish way.”

The Non-Aligned coun tries remained neutral. The USA under Kennedy prompt ly came to Nehru’s aid. As did UK and France. Winston Churchill was Prime Minis ter of the United Kingdom in 1952 when I was in my first year at Cambridge.

LIZZ TRUSS BECOMES

SHORTEST-SERVING PM

Liz Truss, sat in Churchill’s chair for forty four chaotic days. No other served a short er term. Even the forty four days were like “revolving chaos”. Truss lost her Secre taries of State for Foreign

Neither Jawaharlal Nehru nor VK Krishna Menon had the fuggiest idea of how to conduct a war. Krishna Menon had convinced Nehru that the real enemy was Pakistan and not China.

Jawaharlal Nehru at one stage appointed Kailash Nath Katju (1887-1968) as Defence Minister

and Home Affairs in quick succession. The brutal fact is that the United Kingdom has no government because it has no Prime Minister.

Candidates to succeed her are the Indian origin Rishi Sunak, who was defeated by Liz Truss seven weeks ago. The next is Penny Mordaunt and the lamentable, discred ited Boris Johnson who lied in the House of Commons.

The Labour Party is seeking a general election. The Con servative will certainly not agree. The party has a large majority in the House of Commons. In an election they will be wiped out. The UK will have a Prime Minister by 28th October. The front run ners appears to be Rishi Su nak. If Barak Obama can be President of the United States why can’t a brown man head a government in the UK.

The image of UK has taken an unprecedented beating. How have the mighty fallen. It really is absurd for Britain to remain a permanent mem ber of the U.N Security Coun cil. At least Britain should give up using the veto. Two days ago a billionaire Indian who has a vast business es tablishment in Ukraine came to see me. I met him after many years ago. His house is next to that of the President of Ukraine. He told me that the Ukraine would end by De cember. I sincerely hope so.

TERROR EXPORTER AND FINANCIER PAKISTAN IS OFF FATF GREY LIST

In a strong-worded order Justices KM Joseph and Rishi kesh Roy of the Supreme Court or dered the governments of Ut tar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi to take suo motu action against those making hate speeches and not wait for any complaint to be lodged. Fail ure to do so will invite con tempt action, the Bench warned. The same Bench ob served last month that the gov ernment should not treat hate speeches as trivial matters.

The three states named by the court have witnessed the maximum hate speeches with their respective governments using kid gloves to deal with the offenders for fear of antag onising the majority commu

In a strong-worded order

Justices KM Joseph and Rishikesh Roy of the Supreme Court ordered the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi to take suo motu action against those making hate speeches and not wait for any complaint to be lodged

nity. Delhi, though a state, has no power over the police who will have to take action without wasting time for the approval of either the lieutenant-gover nor or Union Home Ministry.

It is doubtful if the state gov ernments will act firmly against hate speeches, an issue which was also flagged by An

tonio Guterres, the UN secre tary-general, a couple of days ago for the sake of harmony. The mindset is to promote har mony through fear and not by taking action against hatemongers whose tribe has grown at a frightening speed.

The Supreme Court has been iterating curb on hate speeches. In July this year the court held that as per its 2018 order the states and Union ter ritories must take measures against hate speeches. The order also said that FIR be lodged immediately against those disseminating hate mes sages, or inciting mob vio lence and lynching. The order expected trial courts to award maximum sentence to the con victs. The order remained un implemented.

Pakistan is winning back its credibility in the international community. A defi nite sign of that is its being taken off the “grey list” of Financial Action Task Force (FATF). It no longer has to fear losing creditors and investors. Global banks also will not hesi tate in doing business with Pa kistan. All this will lead to im proved economic activity, con sumption and investment cli mate in India’s neighbouring country which was put on the grey list for terror financing and money laundering. Pakistan’s terror-related activities caused the maximum damage to India and there is no guarantee that it won’t go back to its old ways once it starts getting funds its monitoring slackens.

India is aware of Islamabad’s doubtful credentials and wants the world to “remain clear that Pakistan must continue to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustained action against terrorism and terror financing emanating from territories un der its control”. To that end Pa kistan must Hafiz Talha Saeed and Shahid Mahmood of LeT as global terrorists.

To empower the country with the energy and potential of youth power, PM @ narendramodi Ji launched #RozgarMela to provide 10 lakh government jobs. In the first phase, 75,000 youths selected in the program got an opportunity to join Kanpur in the episode organized for giving appointment letters.

l Vol 2 l Issue No.55 l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Impressions Printing and Packaging Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59, Noida-201301. Published at G-20, 3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474. Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

I will not look at another’s bowl intent on finding fault: a training to be observed.

Buddha

IN-DEPTH

Rajnath Singh @rajnathsingh

Paying tribute to the immortal revolutionary, Ashfaq Ullah Khan, who sacrificed his life for the freedom of India, on his birth anniversary. A grateful nation can never forget his sacrifice in the freedom struggle.

Smriti Z Irani @smritiirani

TOP TWEETS

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

K NATWAR SINGH

The author is Former Minister of External Affairs of India

Wishes pour in on Home Minister Amit Shah’s 58th birday

petently discharges every responsibility assigned to him.

New Delhi (PTI):

Along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several leaders greeted Home Minis ter Amit Shah on his 58th birthday on Sat urday. PM Modi said he is making numer ous efforts for the country’s progress.

“As India’s Home Minister he is making numerous efforts for our nation’s progress. He is also doing com

mendable work in re forming the important cooperatives sector. May he lead a long and healthy life in service of our nation,” Modi said in a tweet.

Besides, several oth er Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders also greeted the for mer party president on his birthday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Shah has been work ing in a dedicated manner to strengthen India’s internal secu rity and that he com

Union ministers Ni tin Gadkari and Bhu pender Yadav were also among those who wished the home min ister on his birthday.

A close associate of Modi for more than three decades, Shah is credited with launch ing the saffron party’s massive expansion drive after he became its president in 2014 and is considered a key strategist behind its un precedented electoral success since then.

GRIHA PRAVESHAM’ of over 4.5 L beneficiaries of PMAY-G in Madhya Pradesh

PMAY has become major medium for ushering in socioeconomic change, says PM Modi

Satna (PTI): The Prad han Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) has become a “major medium for bringing in socio-eco nomic change” in the country, PM Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

He was speaking after conducting, virtually, the ‘griha pravesh’ cer emony of 4.51 lakh ben eficiaries of the scheme in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district by press ing a remote button.

Earlier governments did not do anything for the poor except coining the slogan of poverty

DHAMI GIFTS PM A TRADITIONAL CAP CARVED WITH BRAHMA KAMAL Dehradun (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday left for the national capital from Jolly Grant airport in Uttarakhand after his two-day long visit to the state. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami gifted PM Modi famous sweets from Almora and a cap with Brahma kamal flower embossed on it. During his visit to the state, PM Modi pitched for the Vocal for Local initiative.

removal and delayed the implementation of all such schemes, he said. These govts had no

PoK refugees ask Pakistan to return occupied land

Jammu (ANI): The ref ugees of Pakistan-occu pied Kashmir (PoK) set tled in Jammu observed Black Day on Saturday and demanded to return the illegally occupied ar eas of Kashmir.

On October 22, 1947, Kabali tribals who were backed by the Pakistan Army had attacked Jam mu and Kashmir and killed thousands of peo ple. Their attack on the citizens in the valley in 1947 forced many to leave their homes and take ref uge at other safer places.

Since then, the PoK refugees who are settled in Jammu observe the day as ‘Black Day’ and remember the ones who

lost their lives in the in humane crisis.

Pakistan attacked the Union Territory just nine days after being carved out of India. It first dispatched armed irregulars and then reg ular troops to invade Kashmir. The campaign was led by the maverick Major General Akbar Khan who brazenly called the troops as ‘raid ers’. The Pakistan Army code-named the Kash mir mission as ‘Opera tion Gulmarg’. The boastful book of Khan which was belatedly published in 1970, leaves little to argue or imagi nation about the nature and motive of operation.

time for providing basic amenities to people, he said. The houses under PMAY have all facilities

like electricity, water connection, toilet and gas connection, and will give strength to beneficiaries to fulfil their dreams, he said.

Criticising those in dulging in distributing freebies, Modi said tax payers will be happy to see that people are get ting houses of their own under the PMAY.

People, however, be come unhappy due to the ‘Revdi’ culture in the country, he said.

WILL KEEP WORKING TO FULFIL THE VISION OF GURU SAHIBS: PM New Delhi: PM Modi on Saturday thanked Jathedar Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, members of Sikh community including spiritual personalities for their joy and kind words about Hemkund Sahib Ropeway. He assured the Sangat of keep working to fulfil the vision of the Guru Sahibs. In response to a tweet thread by the Press Information Bureau, he tweeted: “Jathedar Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, respected members of the Sikh community including leading spiritual personalities have expressed joy on the Hemkund Sahib Ropeway. I thank them for their kind words and assure the Sangat we will keep working to fulfil the vision of the Guru Sahibs.”

Naveen Patnaik @Naveen_Odisha

Warm birthday wishes to Hon’ble Union Home Minister Shri @ AmitShah Ji. Wishing you good health and a long life.

YS Jagan Mohan @Reddy @ysjagan

Best wishes and warm birthday greetings to Honourable HM Sri @ AmitShah ji. May God bless him with good health and long life.

15 more classes get reservation benefits in J&K

Srinagar (ANI): The J&K Govt on Saturday issued an order to re draw the social caste list expanding it by adding 15 new classes under the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004.

Jats, West Pakistani Refugees, Gorkhas, Wagheys, Pony Walas among the new classes in the list. In a notifica tion, the JK govt said, “In exercise of the pow ers conferred by the first proviso to clause (o) of Section 2 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reserva tion Act, 2004, and on the recommendations of the Jammu and Kashmir So cially and Educationally Backward Classes Com mission, the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir hereby di rects that the following amendments shall be made in Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules 2005.”

Heading home for Diwali, 15 die in bus-truck collision in MP’s Rewa

Rewa (PTI): Fifteen per sons were killed and 40 others injured after an Uttar Pradesh-bound private bus, mostly car rying labourers going home for Diwali, rammed into a trailertruck from behind in Rewa of Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Saturday. The accident occurred around 11.30 pm on Friday near Teon thar. The bus was going to Gorakhpur from Hy derabad. The bus was negotiating a mountain road in Sohagi ghati, about 60 km from the dis trict headquarters, when the accident occurred.

N.Biren Singh @NBirenSingh

Warm birthday greetings to the Hon’ble Union Home & Cooperation Minister Shri @AmitShah Ji. Hailed as the Chanakya of modern India, his efforts in serving our great country have lead us towards achieving great heights and dignity. Praying for your long, healthy & prosperous life.

Dr. Pramod Sawant @DrPramodPSawant

Wishing Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri @AmitShah ji a very #HappyBirthday. May he keep rising to newer heights with his unwavering dedication to India’s progress.

#HBDayAmitShah #AmitShah

Electricity supply not cut at Bhagat Singh’s house: Punjab govt

Chandigarh (Agen cies): Facing criticism, the local administration of Shaheed Bhagat Sin gh Nagar in Punjab on Saturday refuted the electricity disconnec tion of the ancestral house of legendary free dom fighter Bhagat Sin gh situated at Khatkar Kalan and clarified that there is no bill pending.

“In fact, Powercom has an advance bill pay ment worth Rs 6,760 with them,” Deputy Commissioner Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa told the media.

He also made an ap peal to a section of the

media not to use the name of ancestral house as emotions of lakhs of people are at tached with this histor ic place.

Earlier, Power Minis ter Harbhajan Singh also clarified that the power connection of the ancestral house or the museum of Shaheed Bhagat Singh at Khat kar Kalan was never disconnected.

Meanwhile, the an cestral house of Shaheed Bhagat Singh has a separate power connection in the name of Department of Cul tural Affairs.

DEEPLY SADDENED: PREZ MURMU ON MISHAP New Delhi (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday expressed sadness over the loss of lives in a bus accident in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district and offered her condolences to the bereaved family members.“I am deeply saddened to hear the

HIMACHAL ELECTIONS

news of the death of many passengers due to the accident of a bus going to Gorakhpur from Hyderabad in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. My deepest condolences to all the bereaved families. I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” Murmu said in a tweet in Hindi.

New Delhi: PM Modi has expressed anguish over the death of 15 people in Rewa accident. He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of deceased, and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

PM CONDOLES LOSS OF LIVES IN REWA MISHAP MP CM ANNOUNCES `1L EX-GRATIA FOR KIN

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday announced to provide ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of the deceased in the road accident in Rewa district. A total of 15 people died in a tragic road mishap in MP’s Rewa on Friday night.

Thakur exudes confidence of retaining power

Chandigarh (PTI): Un ion Minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Saturday exuded confidence that his par ty will again form gov ernment in Himachal Pradesh as people have seen the working of the “double-engine” gov ernment.

The “double-engine” phrase is used by BJP leaders to emphasise that development will be expedited if the same party is at the helm in states and the Centre.

Voting for the Himachal Pradesh As sembly elections will take place on November 12 and the counting will

be held on December 8.

Speaking to report ers, Thakur said the BJP will again form the government in

CONGRESS’ THIRD LIST OUT; FOUR MORE CANDIDATES ANNOUNCED

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday released its third list of four candidates for the Himachal Pradesh polls.The party renominated sitting MLA Jagat Singh Negi from the Kinnaur-ST seat and fielded Yadwinder Goma from Jaisinghpur-SC constituency. Bhuvneshwar Gaur has been fielded from the Manali seat and old-timer Kirnesh Jung has been renominated from Ponta Sahib.

Himachal Pradesh.

“Results will be in fa vour of the BJP because people have seen the working of the BJP and

Modi gave in the coun try and (Chief Minis ter) Jai Ram Thakur at the state level,” he add ed. He said the BJP will also retain power in Gu jarat. Earlier also, the BJP had retained power in Uttar Pradesh, Utta rakhand, Goa and Ma nipur, he said.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has quashed a Magistrate court order permitting the ED to question five undertrials who are in judicial custody in a Special Court case. The case pertained to Harsha D, a clerk who was arrested in police sub-inspector recruitment scam this year. The first case against him was filed in the Chowk Police Station in Kalaburagi which was later transferred to the CID.

ODISHA MAN GETS 15 YEARS IN JAIL FOR RAPE

Baripada: A local court here on Saturday sentenced a man to 15 years of imprisonment after convicting him of raping a girl 8 years ago. The judgment was delivered by Fast Track Court Judge Baripada Durga Charan Mishra.

The court imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the convict Arjun Hembram.

BBMP TO REPORT ON BIZ ACTIVITIES IN RESI. AREAS

Bengaluru: The K’taka High Court has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to file a detailed report on commercial activities in residential areas of the city civic body within eight weeks. The order came on a PIL filed by the Wilson Garden Residents Welfare Association.

the double-engine gov ernment. We will get the benefit of the lead ership which Prime Minister Narendra

Targeting the Aam Aadmi Party, Thakur said the Kejriwal-led outfit will not be able to open an account in the Himachal Pradesh As sembly elections.

TMC LEADER’S BODYGUARD SENT INTO ED REMAND DEATH SENTENCE OF CHILD RAPIST COMMUTED

indore: Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Satyendra Kumar Singh of the Indore Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has decided to reduce the life sentence awarded to a rape convict to rigorous imprisonment of 20 years, after noting the fact that he legt the fouryear-old survivor alive.

Anurag Thakur inspects Doordarshan centre in Chandigarh.

‘

CONVICT IN RAPE-CUM-MURDER CASE TO REMAIN IN PRISON FOR 20 YEARS: SC

‘MAGISTRATE CAN’T PERMIT QUESTIONING OF UNDERTRIALS IN CUSTODY IN SPL CASES’

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday modified its earlier verdict commuting the death sentence of a man who had sexually assaulted and killed a four-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh in April 2013, and said he would now be released after serving 20 years jail term for all the offences. The apex court, in its April 19 verdict, had commuted the death penalty of convict Mohd Firoz into life imprisonment.

IN THE COURTYARD

New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi on Saturday sent Sehegal Hossain, the former bodyguard of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal, to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till October 28, in connection with a cattle smuggling case registered by the West Bengal Police.

PM Narendra Modi addresses during ‘Griha Pravesham’ of beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana - (Gramin) in Satna, via video conferencing, in New Delhi on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel greets Union Home Minister Amit Shah on his birthday at his residence, in Valsad on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Several leaders, chief ministers of many states and celebrities extend greetings on the birthday of the BJP strongman

VODA IDEA TO RAISE `1,600 CRORE DEBT VIA BONDS TO ATC

India’s economic activity impressive: FinMin review

New Delhi: Loss-making telecom operator Voda fone Idea said it has re ceived board nod to settle `1,600 crore dues to equipment vendor ATC Telecom Infrastructure Ltd by converting the due amount into equity if un paid in 18 months. Voda fone Idea (VIL) will raise the amount through equi ty convertible debt bonds that carry a coupon rate of 11.2% per annum pay able every six months during its term.VIL said that the funds raised will be used to pay ATC amounts owed to ATC.

SBI HIKES TERM DEPOSIT RATES BY UP TO 0.80 PER CENT

New Delhi (PTI): Sound ing a note of caution, the Finance Ministry’s Eco nomic Review said on Sat urday that inflation might witness another resur gence in case of deteriora tion of geo-political situa tion leading to higher glob al energy prices and supply chain pressures.

Observing that India has managed inflation better than most other countries in the world, the Review said that barring further weather extremities, retail food inflation is expected to decline in the coming months, leading to lower headline retail inflation.

However, it added, global energy prices and supplies remain sources of concern.

“Geopolitical conflicts may yet intensify reignit ing supply chain pressures that have eased recently. If so, inflation may yet see a resurgence rather than a decline in 2023,” the review said.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

z Observing that India has managed inflation better than most other countries, the Review said that barring further weather extremities, retail food inflation is expected to decline in the coming months

by 5.4% against the USD, less than the depreciation of 8.9% of six major cur rencies in the DXY Index.

z India’s growth narrative in the first six months of the current FY featured the uninterrupted thrust govt provided to its capex

z A series of measures taken by the RBI during July 2022 is expected to stabilise the capital flow further & support the INR

capital expenditure levels were also supported by stronger revenue genera tion following an improve ment in tax compliance, higher corporate profita bility, and growing eco nomic activity.

Increasing revenue gen eration has further kept the fiscal deficit until Au gust aligned with its budg eted level, which otherwise could have gone awry with high capital expenditure, higher fertilizer and food subsidies and excise tax cuts to rein in inflation, it added.

RBI should focus on softening core inflation

Mumbai: The country’s largest lender SBI upped its interest rates on term deposits by up to 0.80% amid a ‘war for deposits’ in the banking system.

Fixed deposits of under `2 crore for a period of over 211 days but less than 1 year will earn an interest of 5.50% from October 22, as against 4.70% earlier. For other maturities, the quantum of the rate hike is lower at 0.25-0.60%, while the 7-45 days deposit rate has been left untouched at 3% per annum.

RELIANCE TO DEMERGE ITS EPC BIZ RESOURCES

Retail inflation for India during these six months stood at 7.2%, lower than the world inflation of 8%, as represented by the me dian inflation of major economies, it said.

During the same period, it said, the INR depreciated

OTHER STORIES

A series of measures taken by the RBI during July 2022 is expected to sta bilise the capital flows fur ther and support the INR, it said.

The report said India’s growth narrative in the first six months of the cur rent financial year featured

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD BECOMES FIRST INDIAN COMPANY TO POST EARNINGS CALL ON METAVERSE

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) posted the proceed ings of its second quarter earnings call on the metaverse, becoming the first Indian firm to use the me dium to engage with its stakeholders. The metaverse earnings call, which can be accessed through any device (even a smartphone), was produced in partnership with GMetri — a nocode metaverse creation platform, sources said. One does not need to wear an AR/VR headgear to access it.

the uninterrupted thrust government provided to its capital expenditure that, until August of FY 2022-23, stood 46.8% higher than the corresponding period of the previous year.

The increase marked a decisive shift towards im proved quality of spending as the ratio of revenue ex penditure to capital outlay fell to 4.5 from 6.4 in the last year, it said, adding, rising

While capital formation and digitalisation boost medium-term potential growth rate, learning loss es caused by the pandemicinduced shutdowns and rising obesity levels re strain it, the report said, a healthy and educated India is a productive India.

The government quietly went about facilitating the development of India’s digital infrastructure on the foundation of unique national identity, financial inclusion and payments, it said.

Similarly, quietly re building the economy’s ability to grow and letting it grow.

New Delhi (Agencies): In dia’s central bank must stay focused on moderating components of inflation that are not directly influ enced by food or fuel, and work on dampening overall price expectations, said a rate-setter usually known for his dovish views.

“As far as monetary poli cy is concerned, modera tion in the core inflation should be the priority,” Shashanka Bhide, an exter nal member of the RBI’s MPC, said.

“It is important that the inflation expectations are anchored closer to the pol icy target.”

While the debate on In dia’s inflation centers around the headline con sumer price inflation, it is the core measure that has troubled policymakers for years. Despite raising its main policy rate by 190 ba sis points this year, the RBI

RUPEE-BASED TRADING GETTING RESPONSES: RBI’S DEPUTY GUV

New Delhi (Agencies): The Reserve Bank of India is receiving encouraging responses from countries to participate in rupeebased trading, deputy gov ernor T Rabi Sankar said.

New Delhi: Reliance In dustries Ltd will demerge its engineering, procure ment and construction (EPC) business to create a focused entity catering to the group’s EPC needs, the firm said in a state ment. The board of the company helmed by bil lionaire Mukesh Ambani on Friday “approved a scheme of arrangement under which the engineer ing, procurement and construction and infra structure undertaking of Reliance Projects and Property Management Services Ltd, a whollyowned subsidiary of RIL is proposed to be de merged into RIL,” it said.

INDIAFIRST LIFE INSURANCE FILES IPO DRAFT PAPERS

a 31.43% jump in its September quarter consolidated net profit at `8,006.99 crore. On a standalone basis, the second largest private sector lender reported a 37.14% rise in September quarter net profit at `7,557.84 crore, as against `5,510.95 crore in the year-ago period. The bank’s total income grew to `31,088 crore in the reporting quarter, while the overall expenses climbed to `19,408 crore from `18,027 crore.

New Delhi: Kotak Mahindra Bank on Saturday reported an about 27% rise in net profit at `2,581 crore for the quarter ended Sep tember 2022. Total income during July-September period of 2022-23 grew to `10,047 crore. Net interest income increased to `5,099 crore from `4,021 crore in Q2 FY22, up 27%. Net interest margin for the quarter was at 5.17%. On the assets front, the bank’s gross non-performing assets stood at 2.08% of gross advances at the end of September 2022.

RBI has been pushing rupee-based trade settle ment since July this year by creating a comprehen sive framework for it, as part of its endeavour in the process of ‘internationali sation’ of the rupee.

ited uses all these years.

‘MUST MODERATE INFLATION FACTORS’

New Delhi: External member of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy commit tee, Shashanka Bhide said that India’s central bank must stay focused on moderating components of inflation that are not directly influenced by food or fuel, and work on dampening overall price expectations.

failed in its mandate to keep the retail number within its targeted 2%-6% range for nine straight months. More worryingly, the core measure has stayed above 6% for at least a year.

“The food and fuel infla tion are driven by the sup ply conditions and inelas tic demand,” Bhide said. “They may be more respon sive to other policy meas ures. But it is also neces sary to weaken their im pact on the price condi tions in the other sectors.”

50% Indian mobile users wish to upgrade to 5G device

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Close to 50% smartphone users in the country have plans to buy a new device within the first year as 5G roll-out be gins, a report has said.

SETTLEMENT

New Delhi: Bank of Baro da-promoted IndiaFirst Life Insurance has filed preliminary papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise funds through an IPO. Acc to merchant banking sourc es, the IPO size could be between `2,000 crore and `2,500 crore. The public issue consists of a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to `500 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to 141,299,422 equity shares by promoter and selling shareholders.

Mumbai (PTI): Around `40,000 crore of business is expected to be generated on this Dhanteras, which is spread over the week end, on the back of positive consumer sentiment, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said on Saturday.

Dhanteras, the first day of Diwali, is considered auspicious to buy new items, especially gold, sil ver jewellery, all kinds of utensils, kitchenware, ve hicles, clothes and ready made garments, electron ics, electrical goods among others.

This year Dhanteras is spread over the weekend, with the muhurat begin

SINCE JULY 2022

z RBI has been pushing rupeebased trade settlement since July this year by creating a comprehensive framework for it, as part of its endeavour in the process of ‘internationalisation’ of the rupee.

“Increased use of rupee in cross-border transac tions requires a unified global market in rupee both in interest rates and currencies. Such unifica tion would not only im prove depth and liquidity of our markets, but they would also facilitate uni form pricing across bor ders,” he said. Pertinent to note that invoicing export and import in rupees was long permitted, but it was being resorted to for lim

The deputy governor drew a distinction between the status of ‘rupee as an international currency’ and the process of ‘interna tionalisation’ of the local currency. “Rupee as an in ternational currency, with all its attendant privileges that we saw USD enjoys, is a state that lies well into the future. It is not achiev able by financial regula tion alone,” he added.

India has more than 500 million smartphone users to date. The price band of ` 20,000-` 30,000 is the most preferred price band for the future smartphone pur chases in the country, ac cording to Counterpoint Research.

India’s smartphone mar ket ASP is expected to rise because consumers tend to prefer a higher price band for every subsequent pur chase. Samsung, Apple and OnePlus are at the top as the survey respondents preferred smartphone brands for the next pur chase, the report noted.

crore business expected during 2-days of Dhanteras: CAIT

AUSPICIOUS DHANTERAS

z Dhanteras is considered auspicious to buy new items, especially gold, silver jewellery, all kinds of utensils, kitchenware, vehicles, clothes and readymade garments, electronics, electrical goods

z This year Dhanteras is spread over the weekend, with the muhurat beginning from 2 pm on Saturday till 6 pm on Sunday

dent B C Bhartia said.

All India Jewellers and Goldsmith Federation na tional president Pankaj Arora said there is great enthusiasm among jewel lery traders across the country regarding the sale of Dhanteras on Saturday and Sunday, for which the industry has made elabo rate preparations.

ning from 2 pm on Satur day till 6 pm on Sunday.

“Around ` 40,000 crores

of business” is expected on two days festival of Dhan teras, CAIT national presi

There is also demand for artificial jewellery that is also visible in the markets this year, while gold, silver coins, notes and idols are also likely to be bought in large quantities on Dhan teras, he added.

EXPECT RECORD DELIVERIES OF CARS, TWO-WHEELERS: FADA New Delhi: Rebounding after two pandemic-hit years, auto mobile dealers expect a bumper sale of two- and four-wheelers during the auspicious Dhan teras this year. Dealers expect a rush for automobiles across categories. Auto dealers are expecting bumper sales in all segments, including passenger and commercial vehicles and two-wheelers. “We expect record retail sales of passenger vehicles on Dhanteras. Even two-wheeler sales are expected to reach the pre-COVID levels,” FADA President said. Besides, CVs as well as tractor and three-wheeler sales are expected to be much better than the last year. —PTI

ON THE BACK OF +VE CONSUMER SENTIMENT

business

KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK

27 PER CENT TO ` 2,581 CRORE

PTI

BY TRIDIB RAMAN

KHARGE’S REAL CHALLENGE IS TO OVERCOME RAHUL LOYALISTS

T he moment of the ordeal of newly elected Congress Presi dent Mallikarjun Kharge has just arrived. His political experience of five decades will be feathered when he takes over as the new National President of Congress on October 26 after Di wali. The most impor tant thing is that Rahul Gandhi is going to leave his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in the middle to come to Delhi to participate in this programme to be held at the Congress Headquarters. If sourc es are to be believed, Kharge has consulted some of his loyalists to finalise his Presiden

gress. But the real chal lenge before Kharge will be to deal with the ‘Tu ghlaq orders’ of Team Rahul sitting in Tughlaq Lane. It is possible that these recommendation letters of Team Rahul would be stopped be cause most of the letters that came out from here, have been proving to be an effective weapon in the organisation and posting of committees of Congress. It is said that Kharge is in touch with his family astrolo ger. Kharge’s lucky num ber is 8, so his astrolo gers have suggested him that the right time for his ‘Raj Tilak’ will be on Oc tober 26.

WHAT HAPPENED IN SANGH’S PRAYAGRAJ MEETING?

he four-day ‘All India Ex ecutive Board’ meeting of the Sangh in Prayagraj has just concluded. In this meeting, 370 All India-level offi cials including top RSS leaders Mo han Bhagwat

and Dattatreya Hosab ole participated. In this meeting, issues like caste-varna-free society and social harmony and population control were discussed in de tail. But in this meet ing, the real focus of the Sangh was on the gen eral elections of 2024.

The concern of the Sangh also came to the fore that whenever the glory of the Ram tem ple, under construction in Ayodhya, is narrated, the cases of Ayodhya land scam also start gaining momentum on social media. If sources are to be believed, it has been decided in Sangh’s meeting that now the cadre will fo cus all its attention on Gyan vapi and Mathura. It is said that in this meet ing of the

Silence of RSS on country ’s situation shameful: Mayawati

Sangh, the strategies for Gujarat elections have also been revealed. Sangh is working on a strategy that like Pun jab pattern, some ferti lizers and water should be put in the organiza tion of Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat, since giving it more power, means cutting the Con gress and it will be eas ier for BJP to hit the ground there. Another news has come out from this meeting that the Sangh wants Man ish Sisodia to be arrest ed only after the voting is over in Gujarat.

MOVIE ON RATAN TATA’S BIOGRAPHY?

atan N Tata: The Authorized Bi ography, the official biography of Tata Sons Emirates Chairman Ratan Tata, is set to hit the market in No vember

Latest from AIIMS Dir: No festival gifts

next month. It has been written by Thomas Mathew, a former IAS officer of the Kerala cadre. The publisher of this book is HarperCol lins. It is believed that as royalty for this book, the publisher has paid a huge amount of Rs 2 crore to the author. Mathew has already written two books. Dur ing Congress leader K Karunakaran’s time, Thomas used to be in the ‘power echelon’. In 2016, when Pranab Mukher jee was the President of the country, Thomas re tired as his Additional Secretary. The publisher hopes that Ratan Tata’s biography will break all

sales records as soon as it comes into the market.

In order to make films and shows on the life of Ratan Tata, all the big producers and produc tion companies are ready to pay a begging price to Thomas for its rights, but Thomas wants to wait a little longer. He first wants to see the response to his book once it hits the market.

WILL RAHUL BE THE PARTY’S LEADER IN LOK SABHA?

R ahul Gandhi has publicly acknowl edged that ‘he will glad ly accept whatever re sponsibility the new Party President Kharge assigns to him.’ Hence sources in the Congress Party have revealed that Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha - Adhir Ran jan Chowdhury - will be shown the door on the reason that his tongue falters at times and the party

finds it difficult to de fend him. So it is be lieved that Kharge may present Rahul Gandhi as the new leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha due to his ‘mas ter stroke’. Rahul may not be able to refuse it.

At the same time, spec ulations are rife about who will be the leader of the Party in the Ra jya Sabha. The name of Digvijay Singh is said to be at the fore in the race, but the name of Pramod Tiwari, a Brah min leader belonging to UP, is emerging as Kharge’s first choice.

He has known Kharge for a long time. Shashi Tharoor, who contested against Kharge in the presidential election, may have been able to get only 1,072 votes, but Kharge is not said to be in favor of handing him the leader’s post in the Lok Sabha. Kharge feels that Tharoor sometimes speaks something controver sial.

KHARGE’S NEXT MOVE

K harge has already started carving himself into the new presidential responsi bility. He has become ac tive on social media, especially on Twit ter. He wants to

associate a person with him, who is recognised even by the smallest Congress worker. If sources are to be be lieved, he has selected Nanhaki Thakur, who was an aide of Sitaram Kesari, for this work. Thakur is currently working in Ajay Mak en’s office. Even though Kharge hasn’t formally taken over as Party Prez, he has been flood ed with complaints against big leaders like Mukul Wasnik. There are also plaints against K Raju. Complaints are also coming against Himachal in-charge Ra jiv Shukla & his close friendship with BJP leader Anurag Thakur is being targeted. It is believed that only after the Himachal polls, Kharge will make a ma jor reshuffle in party organisation, and will entrust important re sponsibilities to the members of G-23 group.

Lucknow (PTI): BSP president Mayawati al leged on Saturday that the RSS is raising issues related to religious con version and the popula tion policy to divert peo ple’s attention from the failures of the BJP gov ernment at the Centre.

She also said the “si lence” of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the present situation in the country is harmful.

“The discordant voice being raised by the RSS now over the new popu lation policy and reli gious conversion for di verting the attention of the people of the coun try reeling under the curse of massive infla tion, unemployment, violence, and disorder are grossly improper. This is a planned con spiracy to divert the at

New Delhi: Dr M Srini vas, the newly-appoint ed Director of AIIMS Delhi, in an order said he will not receive gifts from vendors, contrac tors and agencies on fes tive occasions. The new order is the latest in a slew of orders passed by Dr Srinivas since he as sumed charge. “I do not accept gifts or greet ings. Accordingly, staff posted in the office of undersigned are re quested to not allow any such visitors into my of fice,” he added.

Snow leopard count crosses 120 in U’khand

BSP chief Mayawati chairs a meeting with office bearers at the party office, in Lucknow on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI Rishikesh (PTI): The number of snow leop ards has increased to 121 in Uttarakhand, ac cording to the latest census. State’s Chief Wildlife Warden Samir Sinha said the 2022 snow leopard census was conducted on the orders of the Centre.

tention from the fail ures of the BJP govern ment,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said while addressing a daylong convention of the office-bearers of her party’s state unit here.

“Actually, this cam paign by the RSS is be ing taken up before the next (2024) Lok Sabha polls as part of a con spiracy to support the

BJP & its govt & it is very important to make people aware of this,” Mayawati was quoted as saying in a release is sued by the Bahujan Sa maj Party (BSP). She said it is an irony that the RSS supports the BJP in every election with its “eyes closed”, but “never openly op poses its govt’s wrong & anti-people policies”.

Sinha said the cen sus, conducted under the joint aegis of the Forest Department and Wildlife Institute of In

UP TO HAVE NEW ELEPHANT RESERVE SOON Lakhimpur Kheri (PTI): Uttar Pradesh is all set to have a new elephant reserve soon. The Union Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoFE) has given its nod to the Terai Elephant Reserve (TER), which will be set up over a 3,049.39-square kilometre area, including the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) and the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), Ramesh Pandey, Direc tor of Project Elephant and Inspector General, Forests in the MoFE, told PTI on Saturday.

Police officer’s daughter held for hitting parking staff

dia, has shown encour aging results. 86 snow leopards were found in the state when the last such census was con

ducted 6 years ago. Only 12 countries have snow leopards & India is one of them. The population of snow leopards in

these countries is esti mated to be between 3,000 & 7,000. In 2016 cen sus, 516 snow leopards were found in India.

SIA raids 14 houses, 1 business premises in 3 Kashmir districts

Srinagar (PTI): The Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Satur day carried out raids at 14 places in three dis tricts of the Valley as part of its investiga tions into a terror fund ing case, officials said. An agency spokes man said 14 houses

and a business premise of suspects in Srina gar, Sopore, Baramulla and Shopian were searched in compli ance to a search war rant obtained from the Court of Special Judge, designated under the NIA Act (TADA/POTA) Srinagar.

“Continuing to rein

—PHOTO BY ANI

in the financial net works of terror outfits with a purpose of de stroying the ecosystem and support structure of terrorism complete ly, the State Investiga tion Agency today con ducted searches at mul tiple locations across the Valley,” the spokes man said.

“The case was regis tered on a reliable in formtion that a group of overground workers of terrorist organisa tions in connivance with and active support from their Pakistanbased terror handlers, including terrorists who had exfiltrated from the valley and now

based in Pakistan, are arranging a variety of logistic support includ ing channelling financ es with the overall ob jective of furthering and sustaining terror activities in J-K in or der to destabilize the Union of India by clan destinely waging a war,” he added.

New Delhi (ANI): A woman, the daughter of a senior Delhi Police of ficer was arrested on Saturday for allegedly causing injuries to a parking attendant whom she allegedly rammed her car into, at a mall in Saket, officials said.

“The car has been seized,” officials said.

The Police registered a case against the wom an at the Saket Police Station for driving rash ly and leaving one per son injured. “The wom an is the daughter of a Delhi police officer,” Police said. A parking staff (35) member, work ing as a parking assis tant in Saket Mall, filed a complaint against the woman after being alleg edly hit by a rashly driv en car in the Saket Po lice Station area.

—Dr

DHANTERAS SHOPPING

People stand in a queue to buy gold and silver coins on ‘Dhanteras’, in New Delhi on Saturday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Says RSS trying to cover up failures of the BJP government

‘Issues of religious conversion being raised to divert attention’

First India Bureau

SIA conducts raids at the office of Burhan ul Haq, Proprietor, M/s Travel Companion, at Residency Road in Srinagar on Saturday.

Mallikarjun Kharge

Rahul Gandhi

Ratan Tata

Mohan Bhagwat

FIRST

& the WINNER is...

—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA

MITALI DUSAD mitalidusad01@gmail.com

irst India Queen, presented by First India and Bharat24- Vision of New India held its corona tion night on Fri day at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai.

Bhakti Jani, from Mumbai, was crowned First India Queen 2022, with Victoria Fernandez as the first runner-up, Swara Mandlik as the sec ond runner while Sanya Hissaria and Divya Mam nani bagged the third and fourth runner-up awards respectively.

Famous Fashion De signer Aditi Jaggi Rasto gi, who was present as one of the jury members on

the occasion crowned the winner while Pearl Agar wal, First Miss India 2021 felicitated her successor with the winning sash.

Jagdeesh Chandra graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. While wel coming the audience, he said, “We strongly wish to open the gates of opportu nity in the fashion and entertainment industry for many deserving girls. First India and youth are natural allies and we pro mote talent for one and all.” Deepak Agarwal, MD of Bikaji Group was also present as a special guest.

The pageant in its hy brid format had launched a worldwide hunt to find prospective talents from all corners of the world through auditions. These shortlisted finalists un derwent rigorous training and grooming sessions, mentored by the best in the industry, to compete for the coveted title of First India Queen 2022.

The women were brim ming with pride and were

motivated to put their best foot for ward during all the talent rounds.

Parimal Me hhta, Founder Blanckanvas Pvt Ltd said, “I feel truly elat ed to see the ravishing girls put the best foot forward. I congratu late all the participants, especially the winners and our entire team for putting up a great show.

To me, each one of you is already a winner to be able to reach this plat form.

All the best to eve ryone for their future.”

He further added, “I ex press my heartfelt grati tude to Jagdeesh Chan dra and the First India team for giving the op portunity to showcase this extravagant event.”

Various dignitaries in cluding Bollywood and television stars were also present on the occa sion to make the even ing more special.

INDIA GRACEFULLY STRADDLED THE GLOBE AFTER THE HUGE SUCCESS OF FIRST INDIA QUEEN, HELD AT JADE BALLROOM, SAHARA STAR, MUMBAI ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21! BHAKTI JANI, HAILING FROM THE CITY OF DREAMS, MUMBAI WAS CROWNED THE FIRST INIA QUEEN 2022!

Jagdeesh Chandra along with Aditi Jaggi Rastogi felicitate Bhakti Jani, First India Queen 2022 winner with a memento.

Also seen are Parimal Mehhta and Pearl Agarwal, First Miss India 2021 with the other winners and participants during the ceremony

Jagdeesh Chandra with the winners of First India Queen 2022.

(From left) Sanya Hissaria (Third runner-up), Victoria Fernandes (First runner-up), Bhakti Jani (Winner of First India Queen), Swara Mandalik (Second runner up) and Divya Mamnani (Fourth runner-up)

Clockwise: Bhakti Jani (Winner of First India Queen), Swara Mandalik (Second runner up), Divya Mamnani (Fourth runner-up), Sanya Hissaria (Third runner-up) and Victoria Fernandes (First runner-up)

DHANYA LAKSHMI

Dhanya Lakshmi (Grain Lakshmi) is the form of Lakshmi who represents the wealth of agriculture. Dhanya Lakshmi is also the aspect of Lakshmi who provides resources to adherents for their sustenance and well-being. She is depicted wearing green garments with four hands holding sugarcane, rice paddy, bananas and kalasha. In ancient cultures, grains were considered wealth and were even used in exchange to buy other commodities.

GAJA LAKSHMI

Gaja Lakshmi (Elephant Lakshmi) is the giver of animal wealth (such as cattle), or the being who offers royal splendour, according to the Narayana Pancharatra. According to Hinduism, Gaja Lakshmi restored the potential lost by Indra (King of the devas) during the Samudra Manthana. Vasudha Narayanan has interpreted this name as the, “one who is worshipped by elephants. She is depicted as four-armed, donning red garments, carrying two lotuses, two arms expressing the Abhaya mudra and the varada mudra, surrounded by two elephants bathing her with water pots.

DHANA LAKSHMI

Dhana Lakshmi (Wealth Lakshmi) is Lakshmi in her form as the goddess of material wealth. She is depicted with red garments sitting on a red lotus with four hands holding a lotus, an Amrit kalasha and gold coins falling from one hand.

ADI LAKSHMI

This is the earliest form of Lakshmi. Adi Lakshmi is the manifestation who supports a seeker to reach their source or Atman. She is believed to proffer dhyana, a state of absolute silence, bliss and peace. This aspect of the goddess is responsible for the furtherance of the quest for spiritual wealth. She is adorned with Golden clothes and jewellery and has a golden complexion.

SANTANA LAKSHMI

Santana Lakshmi (Offspring Lakshmi) is the goddess’s manifestation who bestows offspring. She is depicted as a mother carrying a child in her lap and food crop in one hand and kalasha in another hand.

VIDYA LAKSHMI

Vidya Lakshmi (Knowledge Lakshmi) is the goddess and the bestower of knowledge of arts and the sciences. She is dressed in a white saree and has a resemblance to the goddess Saraswati. She holds a book of the Vedas, a peacock feather as a pen, the varada mudra and the Abhaya mudra.

Interestingly, during Lakshmi Puja on Diwali, there is a custom to draw 8 petal lotus to rest the coin or the idol of the goddess. These 8 petal lotus depicts Ashta Lakshmi.

PADMA MEANS THE ONE WHO IS LIKE A LOTUS. GODDESS LAKSHMI, THE GODDESS OF WEALTH AND FORTUNE AS WE ALL KNOW, IS AS BEAUTIFUL AND PURE AS A LOTUS. THIS PHOTO SHOOT IS BASED UPON THE ASHTA LAKSHMI ASPECT OF GODDESS LAKSHMI. SIMILAR TO NAVDURGA, ASHTALAKSHMI, IS A GROUP OF THE EIGHT MANIFESTATIONS OF LAKSHMI, THE HINDU GODDESS OF PROSPERITY. SHE PRESIDES OVER EIGHT SOURCES OF WEALTH: SPIRITUALITY, MATERIAL WEALTH, AGRICULTURE, ROYALTY, KNOWLEDGE, COURAGE, PROGENY AND VICTORY. WE ALL WORSHIP GODDESS LAKSHMI ON FESTIVALS LIKE DIWALI BUT WHAT WE KNOW AND WORSHIP IS ONLY THE DHANA LAKSHMI FORM OF THE GODDESS. WITH THIS PHOTOSHOOT, TARUN GUPTA HAS TRIED TO DEPICT ALL EIGHT FORMS. HE CONCEPTUALISED THIS BEAUTIFUL SHOOT KEEPING HIS DAUGHTER IN MIND AND SHE DID TOTAL JUSTICE TO THE SHOOT.

DHAIRYA LAKSHMI

Dhairya Lakshmi (Courage Lakshmi), or Veera Lakshmi (Valourous Lakshmi), is a form of Lakshmi inspired by Durga. She is the form of the goddess who bestows valour during battles and courage plus strength for overcoming difficulties in life.

VIJAYA LAKSHMI

Vijaya Lakshmi or Jaya Lakshmi (Victorious Lakshmi) is also a manifestation drawn from Durga. She is the form of the goddess who bestows victory, not only in battles but also in conquering hurdles in order to achieve success.

—PHOTOS BY TARUN GUPTA

THE ANNUAL DANCE DRAMA ‘SHRI RAM’

GRAND SHUKRANA CONCLAVE

The renowned celebrity make up and beauty expert turned Ontolo gist & relation ship expert

Aashmeen Munjaal, founder of the Shukrana Gratitude Founda tion organised a grand Shukrana conclave re cently at PHD Cham bers, Hauz Khaz.

Along with Aash meen, the event was led by Actor Aman Verma, Actress Ritu Shivpuri, Vandy Mehra, Director Study by Janak, Annie Mun jaal, Director, Star Make up, and Hair Acade my Ramon LLamba, business & life coach, Arvind Munjaal, co-founder Shukrana Gratitude Founda tion, Vivek Behl, Rela tionship & Family Coach, Rita Gangwani, personality coach, Varun Katyal, Nutritionist & Wellness Expert, Preeti Ghai, Fashion Design

er, Aradhya Ma heshwari, Director Sa trang Creations, Kiran deep Rawat, Punjabi ac tor and many more.

Being a certified On tologist for the past ten years, Aashmeen re vealed her motive be hind the Shukrana Con clave, she stated, “Our Shukrana Foundation through this conclave is heading and aiming to reach out to people who need motivation and di rection in life to accom plish their dreams and

fulfil their desires. Our theme is to beautify hu manity internally and externally. Our topic of discussion is also based on the understanding of

Celebrating another Milestone!

our audience to know the importance of their inner self and to under the need of their soul to have a healthy mental life ahead. I am also

CITY FIRST

thankful to the jury for giving their valuable time.”

ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS SUCCESS

CITY FIRST

Avinash Trip athi, a re nowned film writer, lyricist and director was re cently honoured at the Qatar International Art Festival. He was the sole panellist repre senting India at the art festival in Doha, Qa tar. Representing In dia on the prestig ious Art Panel talk show, Avinash referred to cinema as the most complete art form and stated that cinema is, combining both tradi tional and digital medi ums and incorporates all art forms. The Art Talk was attended by artists from eleven countries, including Sweden, Romania, the United Kingdom, Rus sia, and Portugal. Rash mi Agarwal, director of the festival, referred to Avinash as a man of versatility and stated, “Avinash is the best per

son to represent India due to his in terventions in all art verticals.” Avi nash has signifi cantly produced and directed more than 700 short films.

INTERNATIONAL CHEF DAY

CITY FIRST

T he 31st Ravi Jain Memorial Foun dation Annual Awards for Up coming Young Artists’, Dhoomimal Gallery’s Annual Flagship Event was organised recently. Art lovers, philan thropists, connois seurs and industry leaders came for ward to encourage all creative forms of art. The winners’ names for the 31st Ravi Jain Me morial Foundation An nual Awards include Raja Baro, Kaustav Chatterjee, Vikash Dha man, Surajit Mudi, Ab

hijay Tomar and Har shal Khatri.

In association with AuTypical.in, Dhoomi mal Gallery created a section to showcase these artworks. This year, the participation of Autistic artists was a new flavour that was introduced in pro fessional art for the first time amongst the Art Galleries in New Delhi and will be unique in its treatment.

I was amazed to see young people doing such innovative and ex perimental works with so much dedication and focus in their streams, be it paintings, print

making, sculptures, video and engineered installations. I person ally felt good that the youngsters are showing incredible interest and producing remarkable works. In line with us while the Gallery pre pares for a major print making show by the members of the group, ‘Multiple encounters’ by the year’s end. On the whole, collectively, all the artists exhibited have been either influ enced by their socioeconomic situations and the unforgettable pandemic said Uday Jain, Director of Dhoomimal Gallery.

Chefs are known for their skills and innovative presentable techniques and for cooking some delecta ble savouries. They are the creative hands behind the love lan guage called food. To mark a day, Interna tional Chef Day dedi cated to these wonder ful cooks, Crowne Plaza Greater Noida played host to a unique fun activity, where they invited kids from Prath mik Vidhya laya Mubarik pur and gave them the oppor tunity to be the master chef for the day to cook some delicious dishes on Saturday.

Along with cooking food, the kid received insight into a career in the hospitality indus try from the Chef’s team led by Executive Sous Chef, Saurabh Singh Chandel and

ager Crowne Plaza Greater Noida, Sharad K Upadhyay. During the program, the kids danced to the tunes and recited some songs and poems.

Talking about the ac tivity GM Sharad K Upadhyay said, we all are in celebration mode and it’s International

Chef Day. To contrib ute to society and in an effort to make these kids have a good time, entertainment and cel ebrations, we plan to host this program with kids and chefs. It was thoroughly entertain ing for us to have them here to celebrate Chef Day, some of them were quite talented and tried their hands at deliciously cooked dishes.

Saurabh Singh Chandel said, “be ing a part of such ac tivities is really fun, especially when these kids cooked the dishes and served like pro fessionals. We at Crowne Plaza Greater Noida believe in cele brating each and eve ry occasion in a differ ent way, so we all de cided to dedicate the International Chef Day celebrations to these little master chefs for a day and it was some serious fun and entertainment for all”, he said.

Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra presented its 66th scintillating edition of the Annual Dance Drama of ‘Shri Ram’ showcasing a perfect synergy of idealism, grandiosity and reality. The great drama unfolds on a stage resplendent with magnificent costumes, lighting, choreography and music by the maestro and custodian of Indian cultural heritage, Padma Shri Shobha Deepak Singh at the open-air Kendra Lawns, 1, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi recently.

CITY FIRST

During the event

Glimpse from the 31 Ravi Jain Memorial Foundation Annual Awards

Aashmeen Munjaal, Aman Verma and Ritu Shivpuri with others during the Grand Shukrana Conclave

Avinash Tripathi with others during the Qatar International Art Festival

Avinash Tripathi addressing the audience

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN