First India-Delhi Edition-24th August 2022

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR,

New Delhi (Agencies): BJP leader and actress Sonali Phogat died after suffering a heart attack on Monday night in Goa. Phogat had gone to Goa with a few of her staff members at Grand Leoney Resort, Anjuna to attend a function.There is no foul play in the case, Goa Police chief Jaspal Singh told. “There are no external injury marks on the body,” Singh said. Sonali rose to fame as a Bigg Boss 14 contestant.

PM Modi to open new cancer hospital in Mohali

On March 9, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry. It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident.

NEW DELHI l WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 355

Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay was arrested on Tuesday as he called for state-wide protests against the arrest of his party workers a day earlier outside ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi lawmaker Kalvakuntla Kavitha’s residence in Hyderabad.

Sonali’s sis hinted at foul play and alleged that Sonali’s food was poisoned. Sis said that Sonali had called home and somethingSheeatinguneasyaboutcomplainedfeelingafterherfood.suspectedhad been mixed in her food. Her sister said, Sonali had said: “mere pe kuch saazish ho rahi hai...”

Telangana BJP MLA gets bail hours after arrest

JAILED WIFEMINISTERDELHIJAIN’SGETSBAIL

New Delhi: A special court on Tuesday granted bail to Poonam Jain, wife of jailed AAP leader and Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain in an alleged money laundering case. Poonam wasn’t arrested by ED though probe agency had filed a chargesheet against her, her husband Satyendar Jain, and others. Satyendar had also moved a fresh bail plea in which arguments are going on in the court. You have expressed views contrary to Party’s position on various matters, which is in clear violation of Rule XXV 10 (a) of constitution of BJP. I have been directed to convey to you that pending further inquiry, you are suspended from the party and from your responsibilities/assignments if any, with immediate effect.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that the protests at Shaheen Bagh here in the backdrop of the hindIndiaDemocraticdiament.independentwereAmendmentCitizenshipAct(CAA)notorganicoranmove-PopularFrontofIn-(PFI)andSocialPartyof(SDPI)wasbe-ShaheenBaghand the locals did not support the ongoing protests at various places, police said. It said people were transferred to these sites by certain persons who were trying to build a narrative. The submission was made by the police while opposing the bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid in connection Turn to P2 ‘PFI, not dadis, behind Shaheen Bagh protest’

‘TO BE NORTH INDIA HUB’ The Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre ready for inauguration. —PHOTOS BY PIB  PUNJAB PROBLEM

nottoreplyRajaBJPawayactressBJP41-year-oldleaderandpassedinGoahassuspended&soughthisin10daysaswhyheshouldbeexpelled

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider listing a plea challenging the grant of remission to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. The top court was hearing a PIL filed by CPI (M) Politburo Member Subhashini Ali, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, and one other petitioner.

New Delhi: Seasoned diplomat Vikram K Doraiswami was on Tuesday appointed India’s new high commissioner to the United Kingdom, considered an important posting in view of the growing strategic ties between the two countries.

Sonali had said, “mere pe kuch saazish ho rahi hai...”: Her sister

BJP’S BIG STRATEGY FOR TELANGANA! Work is being done by the Bharatiya Janata Party on a new strategy for victory in Telangana, many leaders of TRS and Congress may join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in future. Some leaders of both the parties are said to be already in touch with the BJP, as said by the sources.

QUICK READ RENT-FREE STAY FOR 6 MONTHS FOR RETD CJI

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Arvind Kejriwal at the Townhall meet, in Bhavnagar on Tuesday.

DORAISWAMI IS NEXT COMMISSIONERHIGHOFINDIATOUK

TWO INFROMINFILTRATORSPAKKILLEDNOWSHERA

According to Pakistan, the missile flew more than 100 km inside their airspace Mian Channu.

New Delhi: The govt on Tuesday announced that CJI will get rent-free accommodation for 6 months after demitting office while SC judges will get roundthe-clock security for one year upon superannuation. Dept of Justice in the Law Ministry notified the amended ‘Supreme Court Judges Rules’ to extend chauffeur facility and secretarial assistant for one year from date of retirement to the former SC judges.

A Group Captain and two Wing Commanders are sacked Missile was accidentally fired on March 9, 2022 into Pakistan Moni Sharma New Delhi: The service of three IAF officers was terminated on Tuesday in connection with the Brahmos missile misfire incident. A Group Captain and two Wing Commanders terminated on Tuesday. A Court of Inquiry (Col), set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile. These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services terminated by Centre with immediate effect.

ABOUT THE ACCIDENTAL INCIDENT

—THE DEFENCE MINISTRY CENTRE’S ‘STERN’ ACTION... BrahMos MISSILE MISFIRE SERVICE OF 3 IAF OFFICERS TERMINATED

Srinagar: Two infiltrators from Pakistan were killed along the Line of Control in Nowshera sector of Jammu & Kashmir’s Rajouri district late Monday night, the Indian Army said on Tuesday. “In reconnaissance by a quadcopter, two bodies of infiltrators have been observed. The area is being scanned,” said Defence spokesperson.

DEROGATORY REMARKS ON PROPHET MUHAMMAD

SC TO HEAR PLEA AGAINST 11 CONVICTS’ RELEASE

ADANI GROUP TO BUY 29.2% STAKE IN NDTV, LAUNCH OPEN OFFER New Delhi: Adani Group said on Tuesday its media unit will buy a majority stake in New Delhi Television, one of nation’s most popular, in most high-profile bet by billionaire Gautam Adani in vibrant media sector. Adani’s unit will indirectly buy a 29.18% stake in New Delhi Television Ltd & launch an open offer for another 26% stake. Open offer would be worth 4.93 bn Indian rupees ($61.73 mn), reports said.

SHOW-CAUSE NOTICE ISSUED TO IMRAN; NEW CASES FILED Islamabad: A top court in Pakistan on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to ex-PM Imran Khan and summoned him on August 31 in contempt proceedings initiated against him for controversial remarks against a female judge. Meanwhile, fresh cases were registered against Khan for violating section 144 by organizing a rally. Crucial

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The BrahMos missile got accidentally fired from an airbase and landed inside Pakistan at a place called Mian Channu. The Pakistan government had registered its objection to the incident but much before that, an investigation was launched by India. The country’s foreign office said it had summoned India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad to protest what it called an unprovoked violation of its airspace.

THAKUR CALLS AAP A “PARTY OF LIARS”

SONIA GANDHI CALLS ON PREZ DROUPADI MURMU Congress President Sonia Gandhi greets President Droupadi Murmu during a meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Sisodia may be held soon: Kejriwal Ahmedabad: Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP has claimed massive support for it in Gujarat, and declared that it will be why Manish Sisodia, accused in a corruption case by the CBI, will come under increasing pressure. “We heard that Sisodia-ji will be arrested in 10 days. Seeing your enthusiasm, it appears that he might be arrested in two or three days,” said Kejriwal at a massive public meeting at Bhavnagar.

—Om Pathak, BJP’s Central Disciplinary Committee Secretary

BSE SENSEX

 Sisodia gets summon from Assam court in connection with criminal defamation case  ED registered case against Sisodia, later top official denied

First India Bureau Hyderabad: Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh, who was arrested for alleged derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad, has been sent to 14-day judicial custody. Nampally court has returned the remand application for suspended BJP MLA Raja Singh. He was arrested over his alleged derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad. On Monday, the BJP MLA released a video criticising stand-up comedian Munawar, and was purportedly seen making comments, allegedly against Islam. Several people staged protests in parts of the city demanding Raja Singh’s arrest.

‘WHY RAPSSYSTEM?’MEDICINEABUSESCRAMDEV

New Delhi: SC on Tuesday lashed out at Baba Ramdev for criticising allopathy and allopathic practitioners, saying he needed to be restrained from abusing doctors & other systems of treatment. It said ultimately we respect him as he popularised Yoga. 59,031.30 NIFTY 17,577.50 86.80

First India Bureau New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre at Mullanpur in Mohali on Wednesday. Built at a cost of Rs 660 crore by Tata Memorial Centre, the cancer hospital has 300-bed capacity and is equipped with facilities to treat all types of cancers. This project is significant since there have been numerous reports of increased cancer prevalence in parts of Punjab and people being forced to go to other states for affordable cancer treatment. This issue was so rampant that a train from Bathinda was known as ‘Cancer train’. The government believes the hospital in New Chandigarh will act as a hub of cancer care. A 100-bed cancer hospital run by the central government is functional since 2018 in Sangrur which will now act as a spoke of this hospital. This hospital will also help patients from neighbouring states. The facility has a day care facility for administration of chemotherapy and minor OT for biopsy and minor surgeries. Tight security arrangements have been made by the Punjab Police for the high-profile visit, considering the security lapse that happened on the PM’s earlier Punjab visit.

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LAST INSTA POST She posted a video on Insta wearing pink safa with Rafi’s song ‘Rukh se jara nikab to hata do mere hazoor...’ playing in the background.

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday called the AAP a party of liars, claiming that the “Kejriwal model” of governance has failed. ‘Whatever Manish Sisodia has said about the BJP is completely false. The BJP did not give him any offer,’ Thakur said.

Actor Sonali Phogat dies of heart attack

T Raja Singh

BANDI DURINGDETAINEDPROTEST

PHOTO BY PTI Sukesh Chandrashekhar seen in pics with filmstar Jacqueline Fernandez. The pics were apparently taken a few months ago when Chandrashekhar was out on interim bail.

On June 23, the Centre had proposed to the top court that if at all Chandrashekhar and his wife are to be shifted outside the Tihar Jail, then they should be lodged in Mandoli prison which is being guarded by paramilitary forces.

SC orders shifting of conman prisonwifeChandrashekhar,SukeshtoMandoli

Delhi registerPolicetwo FIRs

CAPITOL NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022 02 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia HIGH-PROFILE INMATE LEAVING TIHAR JAIL

DETAILS SOUGHT FROM MINISTRIES ON TIFFIN MEETINGS

Twin-tower demolition to leave 55,000 tonnes debris

Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI

‘POSING AS LAW MIN, HOME SECY’

I ORHAN SAYS

LAST FAREWELL

Shoppers without masks

Noida (PTI): Supertech’s illegal twin towers in Noida, which are taller than Delhi’s Qutub Minar, will become India’s highest structures ever to be demolished on August 28. The buildings measuring a little over 100 metres will literally collapse like a house of cards in a process that would take less than 15 seconds for them to come down, according to project officials. The demolition would be done through a controlled implosion technique for which over 3,700 kg of explosive will be used in the eye-popping event that would also leave behind a whopping 55,000 tonnes of debris to be managed.

‘Nights of Plague’: Orhan Pamuk’s new book releasing

NEW NOVEL  The book, slated to 1901withhistoricalishguin’sunderreleasePen-‘Ham-Hamilton’imprint,isanoveleventsthattakeplaceinduringthethirdplague.

As Covid cases rise, Delhi starts planning strategy for containment New Delhi: After making wearing masks in public places compulsory again, district authorities in Delhi have started planning a strategy for managing Covid-19 cases, placeation.anycentressisprovidedmedicaldepartmentdirectedgovernmentincreasingCovidpastseeninfectionsurescontainmentenforcingmeas-andcontrollingthathaveanuptickinthecoupleofweeks.“Thenumberofcasesisin-daybydayNCTofDelhi.Thehasalsothehealthtoboostfacilitiesondailyba-atpublichealthtoovercomeunexpectedsitu-So,toputinthemeasures, the staff has been directed to keep themselves at the disposal of the district administrations of the concerned area for discharging the duty of containment measures,” said an official.The district administrations have directed staff in other departments to join the district disaster inciallyCovidpeopleforcementstaffhavetionsdistrictcordingmanagement.committeemanagementforCovidAc-toofficials,administra-andmagistratesdirectedtheirtoincreaseen-toensurefollowtheprotocol,espe-wearingmaskspublicplaces.

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that alleged 'conman' Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife be shifted from Tihar jail to Mandoli jail in the city. A bench of Justices S R Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia passed the order on a plea filed by Chandrashekhar and his wife alleging a threat to their lives and seeking a transfer to a prison outside Delhi. Chandrashekhar is lodged in jail on charges of alleged money laundering and duping several people. ASG SV Raju argued before the bench that Chandrashekhar is running an "extortion racket" and a "conning racket" from inside the Tihar Jail and several prison officials have been suspended. He said Tihar Jail has become difficult for him to operate so he wants to be shifted to another prison so that he can start his racket again.

Mortal remains of ITBP personnel ASI/GD Nandan Singh brought to a ceremony in Srinagar to pay him last respects on Tuesday. Singh was critically injured in a bus accident near Pahalgam.

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The ASG argued that Chandrashekhar had persons working for him in Tihar jail, including some prison staff and they had provided him with sim cards and mobiles. He said Chandrashekhar had called up persons from inside the jail posing as law minister and home secretary as well. “He is trying to manage the media,” Raju said, adding that Chandrashekhar is “loaded with cash” and he wanted certain articles to be published on the date when the hearing was to take place before the apex court. At the fag end of the hearing, the ASG said Chandrashekhar has extorted Rs 214 crore from a person and part of it has gone to Dubai.

I-T dept issues prosecution notice to Anil Ambani New Delhi (PTI): The income tax department has sought to prosecute Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani under the Black Money Act for allegedly evading Rs 420 crore in taxes on undisclosed funds worth more than Rs 814 crore held in two Swiss bank accounts.

FROM PG 1

Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for Chandrashekhar and his wife, said they are lodged in Tihar jail and they have been treated "very unfairly" there. He said Chandrashekhar's grievance is against high-ranking police officials and money was extorted from him for providing him security. “The point is where is your right? Where is the perceptible threat?" the bench observed. "If we have to accede to your client's request like this, we will be entertaining such petitions from all and sundry. There are five lakh prisoners in this country," it said.

New Delhi (PTI): Turkish novelist and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk’s new work of fiction, “Nights of Plague”, will hit the stands next month, PRHI announced on Tuesday.Thebook, slated to release under Penguin’s ‘Hamish Hamilton’ imprint, is a historical novel with events that takes place in 1901 during the third plague pandemic on a fictional Ottoman island. It is currently available for pre-order online.

WIND BLOWING IN FAVOUR

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police on Tuesday registered two separate FIRs in connection with the scuffle that broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) between a group of students and security staff a day before, officials said.The university has said two security guards were beaten up mercilessly by the students and strict action will be taken against those who are found guilty of disrupting the academic (Southwest)sionerintowhichleasetestwerewhenwhichinguniversityever,(ABVP)yarthiAkhilMembersenvironment.oftheBharatiyaVid-Parishadhave,how-accusedtheofcarry-outtheattacktookplacethestudentsstagingapro-seekingthere-offellowshiptheyclaimedhavenotreceivedoverayear.DeputyCommis-ofPoliceManojC said, “On the complainant of Nishant, a JNU student, a case has been registered under sections 323 ficerthecomplaintof(commonintimidation)ment),(wrongfulcausing323ofservantstructingderbeennal341causing(voluntarilyhurt)andoftheIndianPe-Code.“AnotherFIRhasregisteredun-sections186(Ob-publicindischargepublicfunctions),(voluntarilyhurt),342confine-506(criminaland34intention)theIPContheofNavin,chiefsecurityof-JNU.” the ABVP has alleged administrationJNUthatcarriedoutaviolentattackonthestudentstosuppressthescholarship“scam”

The department has charged Ambani, 63, with “wilful” evasion, saying he “intentionally” did not disclose his foreign bank account details and financial interests to Indian tax authorities. A show cause notice in this context was issued to Ambani early this month.

‘PFI, not dadis... with a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the riots here in February 2020. “What Shaheen Bagh was made out, it was shown as an organic protest site. It was not. It was not a situation where suddenly people came... It was a created protest site,” Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad told a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish India)edsuchcrowdsthesecused,ingtheinvolvedousexchangedtionspendentbaghShaheensons)ganisationsan(thewereers)Bhatnagar.“Dadis(grandmoth-ofShaheenBaghnotbehindthisprotest).Thereisalliance(ofmanyor-andper-whichisbehindBagh.Shaheenwasnotaninde-movement,Prasadreadoutpor-ofchatmessagesamongvari-personsallegedlyinorganisingprotestsites,includ-thosenamedasac-andsaidthatpersonsmobilisedtobepresentatplacesandextend-supporttothem.PFI(PopularFrontofandSDPI(Social Democratic Party of India) were behind Shaheen Bagh... When I pointed out on the first day (of my arguments), there were top conspirators. Top conspirators had visible and invisible elements. One of the invisible elements was PFI.. he Localssaid.did not support. There were people who were transported to these sites and I can show from the chat how people were transferred They are handson on what is happening in Shaheen Bagh, the SPP non-Muslimitarypersonnel,es,blockadethetionandthenphases,riotspoliceEarlierFebruary“masterminds”forprovisionsunderersImam,Khalid,added.Sharjeelandseveraloth-havebeenbookedtheUAPAandoftheIPCallegedlybeingtheofthe2020riots.thismonth,thehadarguedthathappenedintwofirstin2019andinFebruary2020,thatmisinforma-wasspreadduringriotsapartfromofroadscaus-attacksonpoliceandparamil-forces,violenceinareas,etc.

Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering along with their South African partner firm Jet Demolitions is carrying out the job, which is certain to make it into civil engineering feats of the world. “It will take nine to 10 seconds for all the explosives to blast in a series making a loud noise. After the blasts, the structures won’t come down all at once and would take four to five seconds to come down completely,” Edifice Engineering partner Utkarsh Mehta told“ThePTI. time for dust dissipation is estimated to be 10 minutes, said Mehta, whose company has previously executed demolition of illegal residential complexes in Kerala’s Maradu, amongstadiumprison,secretariatTelangana’sandcentralandoldMoterainGujarat,others.

“The 19th century European novel has an Eastward movement from London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, to St Petersburg.“Inmynovel ‘Nights of Plague’, however, the action moves in a sphere that is much more Southern, and from East to West: Hong Kong, Beijing, Bombay, Alexandria, Istanbul, Crete and Venice. Indian readers will notice and enjoy this new novelistic demographic and the warmer setting,” Pamuk said in a statement. Pamuk, who is the author of ten novels and three works of non-fiction, is the winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. It is April 1900, in the Levant, on the imaginary island of Mingheria -- the twenty-ninth state of the Ottoman Empire. Half the population is Muslim, the other half are Orthodox Greeks, and tension is high between the two. When a plague arrives -- brought either by Muslim pilgrims returning from the Mecca or by merchant vessels coming from Alexandria -- the island revolts. To stop the epidemic, the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II sends his most quarantine.cautionslah,leaderreligiousfollowersthedoxthequarantineaccomplishedexperttoisland--anOrtho-Christian.SomeofMuslims,includingofapopularsectanditsSheikhHamdul-refusetotakepre-orrespectthe

New Delhi (PTI): A report has been sought from ministries about the implementation and progress of steps suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi such as the use of GeM portal, holding tiffin meetings with officials, and using social media to publicise the Centre’s initiatives, sources have said. To make governance more efficient and transparent, Modi on several occasions suggested his Council of Ministers to ensure that the procurement by their ministries is done through the government’s e-commerce platform — GeM portal. He has suggested they hold regular meetings with officials for interchanging of ideas over tiffin. Modi has also stressed on using social media to disseminate information about the government’s decisions and reach out to people, sources said. at Sarojini Nagar market in New

JNU SCUFFLE

RESPONSE ON TWITTER PLEA

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SMRITI IRANI’S

The Delhi High Court Tuesday dismissed a plea by Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Shah Watali, arrested by the NIA in connection with a terror funding case, seeking bail on the ground of the spread of the COVID-19Watalipandemic.had approached the high court challenging a trial court's order which had denied him bail in the case last year but had taken note of his medical condition that he was suffering from various ailments including diabetes, hyperthyroidism, and piles. The trial court, early this year, had directed that Watali be kept under house arrest at his Gurugram residence till further orders for his medical treatment.OnTuesday, a bench of Justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal perused the status report filed by the authorities and noted that Watali was being regularly treated and receiving prescribed medicines and that his condition was stable and rugramhousethatthetheWatali'sWhilesatisfactory.dismissingappealagainsttrialcourtorder,benchdirectedhebeputunderarrestinhisGu-residence.

Man arrested for harassing woman with fake profiles

New Delhi (PTI): Mahatma Gandhi had returned the prestigious ‘Kaisari-Hind’ medal and two war medals to the British as part of his support for the Khilafat movement in 1920, saying he could not wear them “with an easy conscience” so long as Muslim countrymen laboured under a “wrong done to their religious sentiment”. In a letter written to the viceroy Lord Chelmsford five years after his return from South Africa, Gandhi had criticised the imperial government and said it had acted in the Khilafat matter in an “unscrupulous, immoral and unjust manner”. An original copy of his letter dated August 2, 1920, is on display at the exhibition being hosted under the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. “It is not without a pang that I return the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal granted to me by your predecessor for my humanitarian work in South Africa, the Zulu War Medal granted in South Africa for my services as Officer in Charge of the Indian Volunteer Ambulance Corps in 1906 and the Boer War Medal for my service as Assistant Superintendent of the Indian Volunteer Stretcher Bearer Corps during the Boer War of 1899-1900,” Gandhi wrote in the letter. Gandhi and his wife Kasturba returned to India from South Africa on January 9, 1915 and were accorded a warm reception by the people. The same year he was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind gold medal in the King’s birthday honours list, according to the official website of a Gandhian institution, Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal. He was decorated with the Kaisar-i-Hind medal by the then viceroy Lord Hardinge who is known to have admired the ideals espoused by Gandhi. In the 112-year-old letter neatly preserved at the National Archives, Gandhi further writes: “I venture to return these medals in pursuance of the scheme of non-cooperation inaugurated today in connection with the Khilafat movement.” “Valuable as these honours have been to me, I cannot wear them with an easy conscience, so long as my Mussalman countrymen have to labour under a wrong done to their religious sentiment”.

platformclarificationsoughtintheJuly29ordertotheeffectthattheisonlyboundtotakedownsimilarmaterialwhichisfoundtobedefamatory

"The enormity of the measures taken by the Government in the Punjab for quelling some local disturbances has, with a rude shock, revealed to our minds the helplessness of our position as British subjects in India. "The disproportionate severity of the punishments inflicted upon the unfortunate people and the methods of carrying them out, we are convinced, are without parallel in history of civilised governments, barring some conspicuous exceptions, recent and remote," Tagore wrote.

BJP 'terrified' by AAP: Kejriwal New Delhi (PTI): Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday claimed that the BJP will soon remove its Gujarat unit president C R Patil as it is "terrified" by the presence of Aam Aadmi Party in the poll-bound state. "In Gujarat, the BJP is badly terrified of the Aam Aadmi Party. According to sources, Gujarat BJP state president CR Patil is going to be removed soon," Kejriwal said in a tweeted in Hindi. "Is BJP so scared?" heKejriwalasked. on Monday likened the contest between the BJP and AAP in Gujarat as a "Dharamyudh" where the ruling outfit has the "armies" of probe agencies CBI and the ED on its side, while his party has the "support of Lord Krishna".

CRACKDOWN Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta with newly-joined party members at BJP HQs in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

WHEN TAGORE RETURNED KNIGHTHOOD IN 1919

Iconic documents of India’s freedom on exhibition at Archives AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought response of Union Minister Smriti Irani on a plea by microblogging site Twitter seeking certain clarifications in the court’s earlier order by which it had directed social media giants to remove web links allegedly containing objectionable material against the BJP leader and her JairamCongresssummonseshadwhichcivilfiledbyingtomaterialtoplatformdercationwhichfiledIranikarnaJusticedaughter.MiniPush-issuednoticetoonanapplicationbyTwitterinitsoughtclarifi-intheJuly29or-totheeffectthattheisonlyboundtakedownsimilarwhichisfoundbedefamatoryonbe-providedwithURLsplaintiffIrani.TheapplicationwasonIrani’spendingdefamationsuitinthehighcourtonJuly29issuedtothreeleadersRamesh,Pawan Khera, and Netta D’Souza and had also asked them to take down tweets and other social media posts on allegations levelled against the union minister and her daughter. Besides, the high court had directed search engine Google, social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to remove the allegations, videos, posts, tweets, re-tweets, captions, taglines along with the morphed pictures of the plaintiff and her daughter and the underlined material with such defamatory content or anything similar thereto including recirculation on their respective platforms.Twitter sought clarification that the order is to be directed against defendants 1 to 3 (Congress leaders) and not against the social mediaAsplatform.thecounsel for Irani sought time to respond to the application, the high court granted two weeks to file a reply. In its July 29 order, the high court had held that Irani and her daughter were neither owners of a restaurantcum-bar in Goa at the centre of controversy nor a license was ever issued in their favour, and said the statements by three Congress leaders against them seem to be “bogus with malicious intent”. HC denies bail to Kashmiri businessman New Delhi (PTI):

WHEN GANDHI RETURNED 'KAISAR-I-HIND' IN 1920

Illegal hookah bar busted in Greater Noida, 25 nabbed Gautam Buddha Nagar (ANI): The Uttar Pradesh police busted a bar operating out of a mall in Greater Noida for allegedly serving hookah to customers without permission, officials said adding that 25 people were apprehended in this connection.“Wehavebusted an illegal hookah bar here at Lucifer restaurant and bar. Here liquor was served without legal permission. We have recovered beer bottles and half-filled liquor bottles. Over 15 hookahs and pipes have been also seized from the property. We have apprehended 25 persons,” said narcoticstricts,casesregisteredUttarsearchesriedliceAbhisheklice,CommissionerDeputyofPo-GreaterNoida,Verma.Po-personnelcar-outraidsandthroughoutPradeshandover700across18dis-andvariouswereseized.

New Delhi (PTI): Several rare documents from the long period of India’s freedom struggle are on display currently as part of an exhibition at the National Archives of India here, being hosted under the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ . The exhibition titled ‘Saga of Freedom: Known and Lesserknown Struggles’ was inaugurated on August 12 by Union Minister of State for Culture Arjun RamSpanningMeghwal.aperiod of over 200 years, these original archival documents and pictures chronicle various revolts and freedom struggle during the colonial rule, and have been exhibited to mark 75 years of India’s Independence.

New Delhi: The exhibition has on display a document containing the text of the original rare letter dated May 31, 1919 and written by Rabindranath Tagore to the then viceroy, requesting that he may be relieved of his title of knighthood after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy along with Union MOS Meenakshi Lekhi at the exhibition.

Twitter

New Delhi (PTI): A 32-year-old man was arrested for allegedly harassing a woman by creating fake Facebook profiles in her name and posting her photos with “obscene” description, police said on Tuesday.Theaccused has been identified as Mahaveer Singh, a resident of Mahaveer Enclave, they said. Two mobile phones used in the commission of crime were also seized, policeAccordingsaid. to the police, the matter was reported by a woman who alleged that some unknown person had created two fake Facebook profiles of hers and had been posting her photos with obscene description.Following the complaint, details of the fake Facebook accounts and virtual numbers were obtained and analysed, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) M Harsha Vardhan.OneMahaveer Singh was identified as a suspect and his house in Mahaveer Enclave in Delhi raided. “During interrogation, he disclosed that his brother Manwar Singh used to live on the first floor of the victim’s house on rent eight-nine years ago and he knew her since“Hethen.liked her and searched her Facebook Id and messaged her, but she did not reply. He then created fake Facebook Ids using her photos and uploaded them,” he said. The accused is a vendor and used to sell plastic items in streets, the DCP said.

Congress used photo of our leader: AAP New Delhi (PTI): The AAP on Tuesday took a swipe at the Congress over a promotional Bharat Jodo Yatra’ post on Twitter, claiming that the grand old party has used a photograph from the 2011 anti-corruption movement that had brought it down from the power. AAP’s Mumbai unit president and national executive member Preeti Sharma Menon, tweeted, “One more example of how @ INCIndia has totally lost the plot. The photo of their dreams is from an VandanaSingh.”seewherestCorrution#IndiaAgain-morchaonecanclearlyouryouthleader@

GOA BAR & BROUHAHA

AAP OFFICE BEARERS JOIN DELHI BJP

New Delhi (PTI): Several AAP volunteers and office bearers on Tuesday joined the Delhi unit of BJP. Welcoming the new entrants in the party fold, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said that AAP volunteers quit the party in "protest" over charges of corruption in excise policy against the Kejriwal government in "SeveralDelhi.office bearers of AAP, including its East Delhi Lok Sabha unit in-charge Chandra Ketu Mishra, have joined the BJP. They quit the AAP, troubled by scams and corruption of the Kejriwal government," the Delhi BJP president said. "AAP leaders talking about 'Operation Lotus' only to divert attention from their scams and corruption," he said. He said ten senior volunteers who held posts of office bearers in different units of the AAP and their scores of followers have joined the AAP. AAP workers who joined the BJP included Mayur Vihar district vice president Anuj Kumar Singh, Najafgarh Vidhan Sabha in-charge Jitendra Sharma, Anjani Mishra, Krishna Kumar, Amarnath, and Danish Khan, said a Delhi BJP statement.

On August 17, the Supreme Court observed that issues raised during the hearing of the petition against freebies promised by political parties during polls are getting “in creasingly complicated”, and whether access to free educa tion, drinking water, electric ity can be termed freebies? A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana orally observed that the court can not prevent political parties from making promises. How ever, it added that the ques tion is what constitutes right promises?Thebench, also compris ing Justices JK Maheshwari and Hima Kohli, further asked, “Can we describe the promise of free education as a freebie? Can free drinking water, units of power, etc., be described as freebies?”

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 355 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 PERSPECTIVE NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022 04 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

In the previous hearing, the top court had suggested constituting an expert panel comprising representatives from the central and state governments, opposition po litical parties, Election Com mission of India, Finance Commission, Reserve Bank of India, NITI Aayog, etc. Meanwhile, with Gujarat approaching, it will be inter esting to see how AAP places itself before the might of the BJP. In Delhi and Punjab, it may be noted that the BJP did not have a strong pres ence. However, Gujarat is an entirely different ball game and the contest will get inter esting as the countdown to the crucial polls begins.

Bhupender@byadavbjpYadav Was presented two publications ‘Policy to Curb Air Pollution in the NCR’ and ‘Graded Response Action Plan’ brought out by the Commission for Air Quality Management today. CAQM is working hard towards finding innovative solutions to Delhi-NCR’s air pollution problem.

The US health authorities reported a New York person contracting a similar strain of the virus from oral vac cine after the man suffered paralysis. While the source of the virus was still being traced, authorities were con cerned about its spread. The US does not administer the oral vaccine. In March this year the WHO was notified about the presence of cVDPV3 in an unvaccinated child in Jeru salem. The child was brought to hospital after a paralytic attack. Here, too, the origin of the virus and its spread are part of the investigation. The apprehension is that the cVDPV3 strain could be spreading in these three countries. It is a scary devel opment for the world.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Bible PM akistan is going through a déjà vu moment with the ousted Prime Minis ter Imran Khan fac ing arrest on terror charges. Four years ago in 2018 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sen tenced to seven years in prison on charges of corruption. The case against Imran Khan was filed following his outburst over the arrest of his key aide She hbaz Gill was arrested on Au gust 9 for his comments on tele vision which were termed sedi tious. Imran alleged that Gill was tortured in jail and criti cized the judge who allowed Gill to be taken in police custody. Later at a rally the former prime minister threatened to file cases against police officials on his return to power. This led to a case being filed against him un der the Anti-Terrorism Act. Imran Khan has managed to get brief reprieve from a court and is now galvanizing support against the government of She hbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif’s brother. It is the army’s “neutral ity” that will decide Imran’s fate.

larm bells are ringing in the United States, Britain and Israel over resurgence of the polio virus at a time when most of the developing countries have eradicated the crippling virus. Nature re ported in June that a strain of polio virus was “detected during routine surveillance of waste water in February. A mutated version of the same strain was again picked up in the following months”. The report was based on the find ings of the UK Health Secu rity Agency (UKHSA). What is alarming about this strain is that it has originated from the oral polio vaccine, de scribed as “rare risk”. Called “circulating vaccinederived polio virus type 3” (cVDPV3) by the World Health Organisation, it is a strain of (weakened) polio virus that would have originally been found in oral polio vaccines. It can spread through faeces and respiratory secretions and, in rare cases, can prove to be haz ardous.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

AAP’S FREEBIE TRIP In the 2013 Delhi polls, when Arvind Kejriwal first came to power (just for 49 days), his campaign’s focus was to pro vide free (to a certain limit) electricity and water. People responded to AAP’s move and the party romped home in style. After AAP re peated its winning streak (in Delhi in 2020) it went on to win Punjab in 2022 on the DelhiAlso,Model.Indian politicians, over the time have grown smarter and some argue that bank write-offs to “some” corporates are more danger ous to the economy and the democracy in the larger con text than the freebies to poor voters at Freebielarge.politics is nothing new in India. Way back in the Sixties, K Kamaraj’s had promised to provide rice at the cost price of Re 1 per Kg. This move seemed to be high ly popular in those days, which was also perhaps the “need” of the hour as far as the per capita income of In dians considered. The move can certainly be argued. This decision helped Kamaraj earn huge political clout. Twenty years later, in 1983, NT Rama Rao romped home after he promised rice at Rs 2 perInkg.both the cases, Rao and Kamaraj faced scathing criti cisms over the viability of their “schemes” but they stood firm on their decision and continued with their populistHowever,schemes.thedie was cast and a ballot system unfortu nately has been imprinted in the minds of voters and they now want to simply transact votes in return of some sops or goodies and this is con tinuing over the decades. There’s been a huge up roar in the country for the last few weeks over freebies. Even as the Centre is appeal ing to the states to curb the “sops operas,” Delhi’s ruling party Aam Aadmi Party, Ta mil Nadu’s DMK and Andhra’s YSR Congress are challenging the central gov ernment in the Apex court on this. In its last hearing, the court had said, “Some people say that political parties can not be stopped from making promises to the voters. Now it has to be decided what free bies are.” Can healthcare for all, access to drinking water, schemes like MGNREGA, which make life better, be considered freebies?’ The court asked all the parties in the matter to give their views.

On August 17, the Supreme Court observed that issues raised during the hearing of the petition against freebies promised by political parties during polls are getting “increasingly complicated”, and whether access to free education, drinking water, electricity can be termed freebies? A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana orally observed that the court cannot prevent political parties from making promises. However, it added that the question is whatrightconstitutespromises?

IN-DEPTH WILL IMRAN KHAN MEET THE FATE OF FORMER

The writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India Prime Minister Narendra Modi

F

ROBIN ROY

The US health authorities reported a NY person contracting a similar strain of the virus from oral vaccine after the man suffered paralysis. While source of the virus was still being traced, authorities were concerned about spread A

OF SOP OPERAS, POLITICS & GUJARAT ELECTIONS

reebies or better known as “revdis” in the Indian politi cal parlance has gained prominence in debates and the relevance of the same is a hotPrimetopic.Minister Narendra Modi of late has been hitting out in a veiled manner against the reported populist schemes of doling out free bies which are not just a “burden” on the taxpayers’ but may also pull the plug on the economic growth of the nation and dent the country’s attempts towards building a self-reliant nation. With the Gujarat elections coming up, it is not difficult to guage the fact that he had directed his attack against Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aad mi Party’s government which riding the crest of the Delhi model. “As a country, we have to take a pledge that we will not allow such tendencies to grow. This is a collective re sponsibility of the country,” Modi had said. “If there is selfishness in politics, then anyone can come and announce to give free petrol and diesel. Such steps will take away the rights of our children, and prevent the country from becoming self-reliant. Due to such self ish policies, the burden on honest taxpayers of the coun try will also increase. To deal with the challenges that the country is facing, it needs clear intentions and commit ment. It requires extreme hard work, policy and huge investments,” Modi said. “This is not policy, it is im morality. This is not national interest; it is a loss of the na tion. This is not nation-build ing, it is an attempt to push the nation back. To deal with the challenges facing the country, it takes clear inten tions, loyalty, and policy,” Modi said. In the first week of August, the Supreme Court advised the Union government to form a composite expert com mittee to examine the pros and cons of freebies given out by governments and ways to curb irrational elec toral promises that cost the exchequer dear.

In the first week of August, the Supreme Court advised the Union government to form a composite expert committee to examine the pros and cons of freebies given out by governments and ways to curb irrational electoral promises that cost the exchequer dear

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

POLIO IS MAKING A COMEBACK

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NAWAZ SHARIF?

Dharmendra@dpradhanbjpPradhan Our Indian community is richly contributing to the progress and development of Australia. I encouraged our brand ambassadors to also be a part of India’s growth story, especially on the education front for establishing India as a knowledge superpower by the centenary year.

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IN MANGALURU, PM TO INAUGURATE SIX KEY PROJECTS Mangaluru: PM Modi will visit Mangaluru on Sep tember 2 to inaugurate six projects, including Anagha Refinery and berth num ber 14 at New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT). He will lay foundation for the Sa garmala project. Later, he will address a convention at Goldfinch grounds at Kulur. He will inaugurate first indigenous aircraft carrier war ship INS Vikrant on Sept 2.

PARTNERSHIP!GREAT

Convicts’ release shows they were reformed: Cop who probed case Can’t force Rahul, says Digvijaya Singh on top party post New Delhi: Rahul Gan dhi “can’t be forced to become Congress presi dent” if he doesn’t want to, party leader Digvijaya Singh said. Top lead ers are finally acknowl edging publicly that Rahul no longer wants to lead the party. “We can’t force Rahul Gandhi if he doesn’t want to become Congress president,” Digvijaya Singh said. Gandhi has refused to return to the post he quit in 2019 over the party’s colossal defeat in the national elections. The Congress has to elect a new chief by September 20 and is already run ning a few days late to start the process. The schedule may be an nounced later this week. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said yesterday the party is “unanimously” in favour of Rahul Gandhi for the post and workers would be disap pointed if he didn’t take charge. Digvijaya Singh, asked whether he would “appeal” to Gandhi to change his mind, said: “The appeal is known to everyone. It depends on Rahul Gandhi... How can you force anyone? We are trying to get everyone on board.” The future of the party “is bright”, Singh added. Meanwhile, the Congress President has consti tuted Screening Commit tees for the forthcoming state polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh with immediate effect.

‘Mile Kadam, Jude New Delhi (Agen cies): The Congress on Tuesday unveiled the logo, tagline and pam phlet of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a 3,570 kmlong nationwide foot march led by Rahul Gandhi that will be kick-started on Sep temberParty7.leaders Digvi jaya Singh and Jairam Ramesh unveiled the tagline of the yatra, ‘Mile Kadam, Jude Va tan’ (Come Together, Unite the Nation), and also launched its web site in New Delhi. “The purpose of this yatra is ‘Ek tera kadam, ek mera kadam, judd jaye pura vatan’ (One step by you, one step by me, come together to unite the nation),” said Digvijaya Singh, who heads the yatra organis ing“Hatredcommittee.is being spread in the country, Central agencies are be ing misused, Rupee is falling, Constitution is being disrespected... So nia Gandhi in Udaipur Chintan Shivir had said that people from all walks of lives, from all religions and castes, would join the ‘nafrat chhodo, Bharat jodo’ campaign,” he added.

Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday. —ANI POONAWALLAPHOTO/ADARTWITTER

PM Modi to interact with participants of Smart India Hackathon finale on August 25: MoE The PM will interact with the young minds via video-conferencing.

Congress releases slogan, logo for Bharat Jodo Yatra

—FILE PHOTO

CM Nitish Kumar worships at Vishnupad Temple, in Gaya. Minister Israil Mansuri also seen.

IN THE COURTYARD RELEASE ANUBRATA MONDAL, ELSE...: BENGAL SPECIAL CBI JUDGE GETS THREAT LETTER Asansol: A special judge, in a CBI court in Asansol, alleged that he had been threatened with a false NDPS case against his family members if he failed to secure the release of the TMC leader Anubrata Mondal who is in CBI custody, in a cattle smuggling case. The judge, Rajesh Chakraborty, alleged that he received the threat via a letter from one Bappa Chatter jee stating that if Mondal was not released on bail, his family would be implicated in an NDPS case in grave allegations of commercial quantity.

The Yatra will com mence in Kanyaku mari, at 5pm on Sep tember 7 which will pass through 12 states and two UTs, covering 3,500 km in 150 days. The other states will also hold Bharat Jodo Yatra which will be livestreamed.Jairam Ramesh said the yatra stands against political division, eco nomic inequality, social polarisation, abuse of the Constitution and the growing centralisa tion of power that the Union government holds over Respondingstates.to que ries on why the newly launched campaign’s documents do not pos sess the Congress logo, the duo said the yatra is a “non-partisan” initia tive even though it is led by the party.

Will Bharat Ratna be awarded to Dalai Lama?

—FILE PHOTO

Patna (Agencies): The BJP on Tuesday criticised Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for hurting Hindu senti ments by visiting Gaya’s Vishnupad Tem ple, where entry of nonHindus is prohibited, a day earlier with his Muslim Cabinet col league. It warned of protests if he failed to apologise.Mohammad Israil Mansuri, who is in charge of the Gaya district, was among the ministers who ac companied Kumar to the temple to review the preparations for Pitri Paksha Mela from September 9. He told reporters he felt blessed to have visited theBJP’stemple.state chief San jay Jaiswal demanded a public apology from Ku mar. “If [he] refuses to apologise, he would face protests in the state as sembly.”Mahesh Gupt, a mem ber of the temple com mittee, said they could not recognise Mansuri as they had not seen him before. “...he did not appear different from others. But this could have been avoid ed. There is a notice board at the temple, say ing clearly that nonHindus are not al lowed.”

Ahmedabad (Agen cies): The release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case after 15 years shows they were reformed, retired IPS officer Vivek Dube, who investigated the case, said in his first response on the issue. Dube was joint direc tor, CBI, which took up the case after the SC ordered probe 18 years ago. His team success fully secured the con viction of 12 men ( one died by suicide) for life, including five cops and two doctors. The men massacred 14 members of Bano’s family in Gu jarat’s Dahod in March 2002. The youngest was her 3-yr-old daughter Saleha whose head was smashed on a rock. A pregnant Bilkis was gang-raped. She sur vived because they left her for dead and came to symbolise the bru tality of the 2002 Guja rat“Theriots.agitation by a section of people and media to assert that the release of the con victs has resulted in denial of justice to Bilkis have no basis. They are just being re vengeful, which is against spirit of the Constitution,” Dube said in a post.

Jammu: A court here turned down JKLF chief attendtoMalik’sYasinpleaphysicallycourt 1989witnessescross-examineandintheRubaiya Sayeed abduction case, according to a CBI counsel. The court also issued a bail able warrant against Sayeed after she did not appear for cross-examination by Malik, who she had identified as her abductor in a hearing. New Delhi: Delhi HC has said that a girl on andMuslimparents”consentmarrypubertyattaining“couldwithoutofherunderlawshastheright to reside with her husband even when she is otherwise minor. Justice Jasmeet Singh made the observation in the case of a Muslim couple who married against wishes of the girl’s parents. While the man is 25, the girl as per her family and police, is 15 years old.

RUBAIYA SAYEED SKIPS COURT WARRANTHEARING,ISSUED New Delhi: The Supreme Court struck down one of the provisions of the (Prohibition)TransactionsBenamiActof1988,whichprovidesforthepunishmentofa maximum jail of 3 years or a fine or both for those indulging in ‘benami’ transactions. The apex court termed the provision “unconstitutional” on the ground of being “manifestly arbitrary”.

New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Naren dra Modi will interact with students partici pating in the grand fi nale of this year’s Smart India Hackathon (SIH) on August 25, Un ion Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar announced on Tuesday.Thehackathon is a nationwide initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the pressing prob lems people face in dai ly lives, and thus incul cate a culture of prod uct innovation and a mindset of problemsolving.“Prime Minister Nar endra Modi has been interacting with the student participants of the Smart India Hack athon every year,” Sarkar said. The PM will interact with the students through videoconferencing.

Sharat K Verma New Delhi: When the civilian honours are an nounced on January 26 next year, it may be an nounced that the Dalai Lama will be awarded the Bharat Ratna and a base for this is being prepared. For many years, after becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi did not wish the Dalai Lama on his birthday, over con cerns about China. But for the last two years, Prime Minister Modi has been congratulat ing him on his birthday. This means that India has changed its policy regarding China. Now India does not care for China as it was before. Now India is indicating that if China does not respect its sovereignty and territorial integri ty, then India can also question the One China policy.That’s when an allparty delegation of In dian parliamentarians on Tibet has proposed Bharat Ratna to the Da lai Lama. Last year, China had raised ques tions about this delega tion. This time the Par liamentary delegation has also suggested that a common session of Parliament should be called and the Dalai Lama should address it. Both these proposals have been sent to the government and the government has to de cide on them. Even if it is not decided to call a joint session for Dalai Lama to address, then it may be decided to give Bharat Ratna to him. If India does this then it will be a big deal and it will work according to the status of India which aspires to emerge as a superpower.

GAINING GROUND

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New Delhi: Hearing a plea to ban on the ‘freebie culture’ during polls, the Supreme Court said a debate on the matter was needed for the welfare of the country. CJI NV Ramana highlighted the need to differentiate between a promise made by a politician as a ‘freebie’ and a ‘welfare scheme’. He asked if a law rolled out by the Centre prohibiting ‘freebies’ would be open to judicial scrutiny. “Suppose the Centre makes a law that states cannot give freebies. Will such a law be open for judicial scrutiny?” he observed. During the hearing, the court took exception to remarks made by Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.

BJP asks Nitish to apologise for visiting temple with Muslim min

NO STEPPING DOWN, DESPITE MLAs’ NO CONFIDENCE MOVE Patna: A day ahead of Bihar Assembly’s special session called to prove the new government’s major ity, Speaker VK Sinha on Tuesday said he will not resign despite a no-con fidence motion moved by MLAs of ‘Mahagathband han’. Sinha, a BJP leader, claimed the motion was based on “false” charges against him. “In the noconfidence motion, which seems to have cared little for rules, I have been ac cused of partisanship and a dictatorial attitude. Both allegations are blatantly false,” he said.

lll If India does honour the Dalai Lama, it will be a big deal and also in line with the status of India, emergeaspireswhichtoasasuperpower

FOR MUSLIM GIRLS, NO PARENTS’ NOD TO MARRY AFTER PUBERTY

MALIK’S PLEA TO PHYSICALLY ATTEND COURT TURNED DOWN

SC STRIKES DOWN PROVISION OF 1988 BENAMI LAW

Jairam Ramesh and Digvijaya Singh release logo of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ at AICC headquarters, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The Bilkis Bano case convicts after their release.

Jammu: A special court on Tuesday issued bailable warrants terSayeed’sex-CMagainstMuftiMohammeddaughRubaiyaaftershedidn’tturnupatthetrialagainst JKLF chief Yasin Malik in connec tion with her abduction in December 1989. Sayeed, a medical student at the time, was abducted on Decem ber 8, 1989, and freed on December 13 that year after the Centre agreed to release five arrested terrorists.

Vatan’

SUPREME COURT SAYS DEBATE ON ‘FREEBIE’ ISSUE IMPORTANT FOR COUNTRY’S WELFARE

The bymarchnationwide3,570-kmfootistobeledRahulGandhi

—PHOTO BY ANI

The missiles, equipped with indige nous Radio Frequency (RF) seeker, intercepted the target with high ac curacy. The VL-SRSAM system has been indige nously designed and de veloped by DRDO. Dur ing the test launch, flight path and vehicle performance parame ters were monitored us ing flight data, captured by various range instru ments. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has com plimented DRDO and Indian Navy.

New Delhi (PTI): The debut edition of the Common University En trance Test (CUET)-UG, the second largest en trance test in the coun try, has been marred by several glitches, includ ing change in exam cen tre, mass cancellation of exam following reports of sabotage, admit card mentioning already passed exam dates. These glitches caused exam cancellations. The National Testing Agency (NTA) had an nounced a grievance re dressal email for candi dates who are struggling with the issues. Accord ing to UGC, each com plaint is being evaluated and after verification a call is being taken whether to allow the candidate to appear for a retest.

Atiq Ahmad’s son surrenders before CBI court, sent to jail Lucknow (PTI): For mer MP Atiq Ahmad’s son Mohammad Umar surrendered before a CBI court here on Tues day in connection with a 2018 extortion case and was sent to judicial custody.Thecourt fixed Au gust 27 as the next date of hearing in the case. Special Judicial Mag istrate Samaraddhi Mishra directed that Umar be present in court on the next date of hearing and fur nished the prosecution papers. The court had earlier issued Umar summons to face the trial but he was evading the manRealproceedings.estatebusinessMohitJaiswalhad lodged an FIR at the Krishnanagar Police Station in Lucknow on December 28, 2018, al leging that Atiq Ahmad had got him kidnapped and taken to Deoria dis trict, where he was as saulted and forced to execute the sale deed of the property worth crores in Atiq’s name. His son and others also assaulted Jaiswal and robbed his SUV, Jaiswal had alleged. The probe began in the case on the direction of the Supreme Court. Mohammad Umar Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with Belarusian Defence Minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin during a meeting, in Tashkent on Tuesday.

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall with isolated heavy rainfall and thun derstorm, lightning over Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, the sub-Himalayan and Gangetic West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha and Jharkhand during the course of this week. It is worth noting that the western end of the monsoon trough at mean sea level is south of its normal position and eastern end is near its normal position and a cyclonic circulation lies over Northeast Bay of Bengal while the neighbourhood extending upto middle tropospheric levels, IMD informed.

The updated data released by the company on Tues day showed 13 children had COVID-19, at least seven days after receiving a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 21 cases in those who received a placebo. Most cases were caused by the Omicron BA.2 variant that was dominant in March and April this year, when the study was conducted.

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The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for Bengaluru, Ramnagar, Chamara janagar, Tumakuru, Ballary and Chitradurga. Residents of the state capital are experiencing a chill during the evenings and early mornings.

RELIEF OP IN MP: IAF TO DEPLOY 2 HELICOPTERS

Bhopal: The Indian Air Force will deploy two helicopters for relief operations in MP’s flood-hit Vidisha district, officials said. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan also conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas. Rains stopped in Bhopal on Tuesday and the power supply was restored after more than 24 hours in parts of the city, which had witnessed tree falls and traffic snarls over the last couple of days due to heavy showers and strong winds blowing at up to 40 km per hour, officials said.

New Delhi (PTI): De fence Research & Devel opment Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully flight tested Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-toAir Missile (VL-SR SAM) from the Integrat ed Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on Tuesday. The flight test was car ried out from an Indian Naval Ship against a high-speed unmanned aerial target for demon stration of vertical launch capability.

—(ANI PHOTO/RAJNATH SINGH TWITTER) Bengaluru (Agen cies): Pfizer Inc’s COV ID-19 vaccine was 73.2% effective in chil dren aged between 6 months and 4 years, the company’s data showed on Tuesday, two months after the U.S. rollout of the shots began for that age group. Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine was authorized for chil dren under 5 years of age in June, based on data that showed the vaccine generated a similar immune re sponse to those seen in older age groups. An early analysis based on 10 symptomat ic COVID-19 cases in the study had suggested a vaccine efficacy of 80.3% in this group, but experts had warned that the data was pre liminary due to the low number of symptomat ic Thecases.updated data re leased on Tuesday showed 13 children had COVID-19, at least sev en days after receiving a third dose of the Pfiz er-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 21 cases in those who received a placebo. Most cases were caused by the Omicron BA.2 variant that was dominant in March and April, when the study wasTheconducted.companies also said they were prepar ing an application seeking U.S. authoriza tion for an Omicrontargeting vaccine booster in children aged 6 months through 11 years of age.

BSF

MONSOON FURY

HEAVY RAINS BATTER ODISHA,

—PHOTO BY ANI

"The entire spectrum of defence cooperation with the three countries was reviewed during the meetings, with focus on identifying avenues to expand mutually ben eficial collaboration," the defence ministry said in a statement. Singh described as "wonderful" his meet ing with Defence Minis ter of Kazakhstan, Col Gen Ruslan Zhakslykov. "Had a wonderful meeting with the De fence Minister of Ka zakhstan, Col Gen Ruslan Zhakslykov to day in Tashkent. We dis cussed the entire gamut of the ongoing defence and security coopera tion & other issues of mutual interest. We agreed to further deep en the defence coopera tion," he tweeted. About his talks with Uzbek Defence Minister Lt Gen Bakhodir Kur banov, Singh said both sides reviewed the bilat eral defence ties. "Had an excellent meeting with the De fence Minister of Uz bekistan, Lt Gen Bak hodir Kurbanov in Tashkent. During our talks, we reviewed the India-Uzbekistan de fence relationship. Our cooperation is based on a solid foundation and it will continue to grow over the coming dec ades," Singh tweeted. The talks with Bela rusian Defence Minis ter Lt General Viktor Khrenin also focused on ways to boost bilateral defence cooperation. On Wednesday, Singh will attend the annual meeting of the defence ministers of the SCO member states. "A joint communique is expect ed to be issued after the deliberations," the de fence ministry said.

Bengaluru: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said heavy rain will lash Karnataka for the next three days and issued a yellow alert for the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga, Chik kamagalur, Kodagu, Hassan and Kolar. The fishermen in the coastal districts have been advised not to venture into the sea as winds are likely to blow at a speed of 40 to 50 kilometres per hour.

CRUCIAL

HEAVY RAIN TO LASH K’TAKA FOR 3 MORE DAYS IMD PREDICTS HEAVY RAIN, THUNDERSTORM 13 KIDS HAD COVID EVEN AFTER GETTING 3RD DOSE

New Delhi (PTI): De fence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held separate bilateral talks with his Uzbek, Kazakh and Belarusian coun terparts on the first day of his three-day visit to Tashkent.Singhis in Tashkent, the capital city of Uz bekistan, to attend a conclave of the defence ministers of the Shang hai Cooperation Organ isation (SCO).

Rajnath holds talks with Uzbek, Kazakh, Belarusian counterparts

J&K: BODY OF MISSING BJP LEADER FOUND HANGING DALIT GIRL THROWN OUT OF UP SCHOOL OVER UNIFORM New Delhi: The body of a missing BJP leader was found hanging from a tree under mysterious circum stances in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Tuesday. A villager saw the body of Som Raj hanging from a tree at some distance from his house in Hiranagar town in the morning and informed the police, PTI quoted officials as saying. The body, which had blood marks, was sent to a hospital for post-mor tem, the officials added.

Series of glitches hits debut edition of CUET entranceUGexam DRDO, Navy test new missile successfully

Kathua/Jammu: A Special Police Officer (SPO) on Tuesday allegedly bludgeoned his pregnant wife to death in Kathua of Jammu and Kashmir. Accused SPO Mohan Lal is absconding. His house was set ablaze by some angry villagers.SSP, Kathua, Ramesh Chander Kotwal said special teams have been formed to arrest the accused. Lal brutally killed his wife Asha Devi (32) following an argument over some family matter.

Thrissur: A wild elephant has died after allegedly falling into a septic tank in the backyard of an uninhabited house near a forest area in this district, forest officials said on Tuesday. A forest officer said the young tuskless male elephant strayed into the area inhabited by humans by demolishing the solar fencing. It was later found dead having fallen face first into the septic tank.

New Delhi (Agencies): Several lives across In dian states continue to be jeopardised follow ing the heavy monsoon and flooding for days now. The situation in Odisha turned grim on Monday with over 9 lakh lives as the flood situation in several northern Odisha dis tricts, including Balas ore, turned worse. As many as 251 villages in the districts of Balas ore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur and Bhadrak have been impacted by the north Odisha floods, while the total number of affected population crossed 9.66 lakhs. In Himachal Pradesh, 22 people were killed and 12 others injured in 36 incidents of land slides and flash floods triggered by heavy rain fall. In Uttarakhand, a series of cloudbursts killed four people re cently as rivers breached banks, washed away bridges, & waters inside houses, forcing evacuation of villages.

New Delhi/Jalandhar: The BSF on Tuesday recovered a cache of assault weapons and pistols suspected to have been smuggled from across the border during a patrol along the India-Pa kistan border in Punjab. Three AK-47 rifles along with six magazines, 2 M-3 sub-machine guns with four magazines and two pistols along with two magazines were found lying in a farm in the state’s Ferozepur sec tor around 7 am, an official spokesperson said.

New Delhi (Agencies): Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda has reacted to the arrest of Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar. JP Nadda said, “I strongly condemn the illegal ar rest of BJP Telangana State President Bandi Sanjay by TRS govern ment. KCR is worried seeing the massive sup port that BJP is receiv ing from all corners of the state against his cor rupt and family-centric regime.”“We’llfight democrat ically and ensure that in the coming elections TRS and KCR will be wiped out,” he added. According to a report, “Telangana BJP presi dent Bandi Sanjay Ku mar was detained by the police in Karimnagar after he called for pro tests over the arrest of BJP workers in Hy derabad.’BandiSanjay Kumar had earlier lashed out at the state police for registering “attempt to murder” cases against BJP workers for pro testing at the house of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha. Kumar said, “Strong ly condemn TS police registering a case of at tempted murder against BJP leaders who were protesting at the house of Chief Minister KCR’s daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha demanding an answer to the allegations in the liquor scam. There is clear evidence that TRS goons have attacked BJP workers.”

READ

BJP National Prez JP Nadda speaks at an event. —PHOTO BY ANI KCR worried at BJP support in Telangana, says Nadda

Bhadohi: A Dalit girl allegedly faced casteist slurs was beaten up and thrown out of her school by a former village head for not wearing uniform, police said. The accused ex-pradhan was identi fied as Manoj Kumar Dubey. Dubey on Monday questioned the girl, a class 8 student of a government school, about not wearing the uniform, To this, the girl replied that she will wear it when her father buys it for her, police said.

Pfizer’s Covid shot 73.2% effective in kids under 5, data shows Pfizer & BioNTech’s vaccine was approved for kids under 5 in June

SEVERAL DEAD IN HILL STATES

CBI NABS SEVEN MORE FOR ‘INVOLVEMENT’ IN BIRBHUM KILLINGS IN WEST BENGAL WILD ELEPHANT DIES AFTER FALLING INTO SEPTIC TANK IN KERALA

Kolkata: The CBI on Tuesday nabbed seven more per sons for their alleged involvement in the Birbhum killings in West Bengal, a senior official said. Ten people, includ ing six women and two children, were burnt to death after assailants hurled petrol bombs at several houses in Bogtui on March 21. “We have arrested seven accused from Bogtui during further investigation into the case,” the CBI official said.

J&K’SPREGNANTPOLICEMANFROMASSAULTRECOVERSWEAPONSFARMKILLSWIFEINKATHUA

An area gets submerged as the water level of Hati river rises following heavy rainfall, at Junagarh, in Kalahandi.

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NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022 07www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Commodity Price Change % Chg GOLD 51,707.00 157.00 0.30 (Per 10g) SILVER 55,662.00 364.00 0.65 (Per 1kg) COMMODITIES Currency Price Change % Chg USDINR 79.88 0.04 0.05 GBPINR 93.9490 0.4239 0.4492 CURRENCIES

PTI New Delhi: Domestic pharma industry is expected to report revenue growth of 7-9% in the current fiscal, due to headwinds in export sales in the regulated markets and high-base effect in the domestic formulations business, as per CRISIL. It stated that the domestic formulations market is expected to grow 7-9% this fiscal, on a 15% growth last fiscal, led by a 6-8% average price increase allowed by the NPPA in March 2022 and on the back of new product launches.

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 4 paise to close at 79.88 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, tracking a strong American currency in the overseas market and rising crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 79.85 and saw an intra-day high of 79.81 and a low of 79.90 against the American currency. It finally ended at 79.88, down 4 paise over its previous close.

ECOWRAP REPORT

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“The owners of the banks it is for them to decide how much of shareholding they want to retain, how much they want to, the others, the public or whoever wants to own, our regulations are ownership neutral,” he said. Das said that some signs of financial instability have potential to cause a huge impact on economy.

Union Min Scindia pitches for int’l aviation hub in India

ABOUT 2 MONTHS AFTER RELEASE IN CHINA AMBITIOUS PLANS AHEAD The company has been working with suppliers to ramp up production in India and shorten the lag in manufacturing new iPhones from the typical six to nine months for previous launches. The Co. has been gradually ramping up production of iPhones in India.

business

AS PER SBI TOP TALKING POINTS The progress in the economy is seen despite global spillovers, elevated inflation and some slackening of external demand as geopolitical developments take their toll on world trade. An intense heatwave in major regions across India during the summer season limited economic activity. Despite this, most of the servicesimprovement,economichigh-frequencyindicatorsshowedespeciallyinthesectoractivity.

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PTI OTHER STORIES GOVT

Mumbai (PTI): Benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty snapped their two-day losing streak to close nearly half a per cent higher on Tuesday following gains in banking, metal and auto stocks.The30-share BSE Sensex climbed 257.43 points or 0.44% to settle at 59,031.30. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 86.80 points or 0.50% to 17,577.50. From the Sensex pack, M&M, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma and IndusInd Bank advanced. On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Hindustan Unilever, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

E-COMMERCE FIRMS INCREASE HIRING FOR FESTIVE SEASON New Delhi: India’s crude oil production fell 3.8% in July on lower output from fields operated by stateowned ONGC and private sector firms, government data released on Tuesday showed. Production of crude oil, which is refined to produce fuels such as petrol and diesel, fell to 2.45 million tonnes in July from 2.54 million tonnes a year back. The output was lower than the monthly target of 2.59 million tonnes, the data released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas showed.

New Delhi: Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the government will approach the capital market next month to raise funds for four road projects. The money will be raised through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), and there will be an investment limit of `10 lakh for retail investors, he added. “We will be approaching the capital market to raise funds for the four road projects... There will be an assured return of 7-8 per cent,” Gadkari said while addressing a Ficci event.

RBI is bankneutral:ownershipDasonprivatisation

New Delhi (Agencies): The RBI, as the regulator of the banking sector, is neutral to ownership, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Tuesday. The central bank in its latest monthly bulletin featured an article said that a gradual approach to privatisation could help achieve the broader social objective of financial inclusion, the paper had said, seeking to underscore the role of state-run lenders in taking formal banking to the under-banked.“Weprescribe certain regulatory guidelines and it is our job to ensure that those regulatory guidelines are adhered to and the banking sector functions in an orderly manner in a wellregulated manner, banks are robust, they are well capitalised, their financial parameters should be strong so we are agnostic to ownership, we are ownership neutral,” Das clarified.

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PTI

New Delhi (PTI): Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said there needs to be anchor airlines at particular airports, more wide body aircraft as well as synergy between domestic and international departures to have an international aviation hub in India. The country’s civil aviation sector is on the recovery path after being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and is projected to have 400 million air travellers in the coming years.

FALLS 4 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 79.88/$ CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA

INDIAN EV MARKET TO HIT ANNUAL SALES OF 17 MN UNITS BY 2030 Mumbai: India’s EV market is expected to expand at a compounded annual growth rate of 49% volumessegment’swith2021-2030,betweenthe set to cross annual sales of 17 million by 2030. This projected growth is expected to be driven by factors such as rising fuel prices, entry of new players, advancement in EV technology, continued subsidy support from both the central and state governments as well as anticipated implementation of emission standards, IESA said.

Besides, airlines must have wide body aircraft to transport passengers internationally, he noted.

—PTI ADANI GROUP IS WARNSOVERLEVERAGED’,‘DEEPLYCREDITSIGHTS

“We are in the growth phase and there are tremendous opportunities on the airlines and airports side,” Scindia said. He emphasised the need for a committed and concerted effort by all stakeholders to make an international hub in the country. There must be an international hub in India and there must be anchor airlines at particular airports.

— TO APPROACH CAPITAL MARKET TO RAISE FUNDS FOR FOUR ROAD PROJECTS

New Delhi (PTI): Union Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Tuesday exuded confidence that India will become the No.1 producer of steel in the world in the days to come. India is the world’s second largest producer after China. He was of the view that India has moved from becoming the net importer of steel to the net exporter of steel. He said India’s per capita consumption of steel has increased from 57.8 kg in 2013-14 to 78 kg. The government intends to achieve 300 MT of steel production target by 2030, Scindia said. Steel across the world is the primary sector which results in economic, capital and infrastructure growth.

‘INDIA TO BE No.1 PRODUCER OF STEEL’

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SpiceJet scouting for funds from airlines, says Ajay

BRIEFS New Delhi: German luxury carmaker Audi on Tuesday said it will increase prices of its entire model range by up to 2.4% next month. The price hike is a result of rising input and supply chain costs and will come into effect from September 20, 2022, the automaker said in a statement. “At Audi India, we are committed to operating a sustainable business model. With rising input and supply chain costs, we are required to take a price hike of up to 2.4% across our model range,” Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon said.

`

Apple planning for ‘Made in India’ iPhone 14 by Diwali

—PTI PHARMA INDUSTRY TO REPORT 7%-9%

 It is projected to have 400 million air travellers in the coming years.

SENSEX, NIFTY SNAP 2-DAY LOSING RUN

PTI

New Delhi (PTI): SpiceJet is looking for investments from external parties, including airlines, and also plans to add seven more Boeing planes to its fleet, the carrier’s chief Ajay Singh said on Tuesday. In recent times, SpiceJet has faced turbulence — especially with many of its flights suffering technical snags — and subsequently, the airline has faced actions from aviation regulatorSpiceJetDGCA.

New Delhi (Agencies): Apple Inc plans to start manufacturing iPhone 14 in India about two months after the product’s initial release in China, it was reported on Tuesday. The company has been working with suppliers to ramp up production in India and shorten the lag in manufacturing new iPhones from the typical six to nine months for previousThelaunches.US-based company has been gradually ramping up production of iPhones in India. Currently, its devices are manufactured in India by three contractThemanufacturers.threeApple partners are part of the Indian government’s productionlinked incentive scheme for mobile manufacturing. They need to make products worth a minimum of `8,000 crore each this year to get the Foxconnincentives.Technology reportedly studied the process of shipping components from China and assembling the iPhone 14 device at its plant outside Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Apple and Foxconn ultimately determined a simultaneous start in India and China isn’t realistic this year, although it remains a long-term goal. The first iPhone 14s from India are likely to be finished in late October or November, following the initial September release, they said. An ambitious target would be Diwali that begins on October 24.

Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said it is doing the utmost to work through the stress that it has faced and the strategy is to raise resources.“Weare doing it by way of the government-supported scheme ECLGS, getting new aircraft from Boeing and therefore through the SLB process, exploring options for fundraise... We are exploring all options,” heSinghsaid. also said the airline was looking at investments from external parties, including airlines. The shareholders of SpiceJet, which is a listed company, have approved fundraising of ` 1,500 to ` 2,000 crore, and some of the amounts have already been raised, Singh said. He said the carrier plans to add at least seven more planes by the end of December 2022.

 The country’s civil aviation sector is on the recovery path after being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

New Delhi (Agencies): India’s GDP is expected to be much higher in Q1FY23 and growth is expected around 15.7% with a large possibility of an upward bias because several indicators have shown good progress in the Indian economy, as per the latest SBI Ecowrap report. The progress in the economy is seen despite global spillovers, elevated inflation and some slackening of external demand as geopolitical developments take their toll on world trade. Most of the high-frequency economic indicators showed improvement, especially in the services sector activity. There were also significant improvements in the domestic supply delivery time, backlogs and decline in truck freights, which was reflected in the fall of index of supply chain pressures.

Q1FY23 GDP GROWTH EXPECTED AT 15.7%

New Delhi: Richest Indian Gautam Adani’s ports-to-power-to-cement conglomerateis“deeplyoverlever-aged”withthegrouppredominantly using debt to invest aggressively across existing as well as new businesses, CreditSights said. “In the worst-case scenario, overly ambitious debt-funded growth plans could eventually spiral into a massive debt trap, and possibly culminate into a distressed situation or default of one or more group companies.”

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AUDIGROWTHTOHIKE PRICES BY UP TO 2.4% NEXT MONTH New Delhi: E-commerce companies are adding delivery personnel at a rapid pace, fearing a labour shortage might cause them to lose out in one of the biggest annual shopping seasons. The moves come amid a tightening job market - India’s unemployment rate fell below 7% in July for the first time since Jan - and high inflation, complicating the outlook for the industry which has long battled chronically high employee turnover.

“As per our (SBI) ‘Nowcasting Model’, the forecasted GDP growth for Q1 FY23 would be 15.7%, with an upward bias,” the report added. GDP Growth as per SBI composite leading indicator (CLI), which includes parameters from almost all the sectors based on monthly data, shows early signals of turning-points in the economic activity. Out of the 41 high frequency leading indicators, 89% are showing acceleration, compared to 75% acceleration in FY22. Private final consumption expenditure in real terms that had declined significantly by ` 4.77 lakh crore in Q1FY21 owing to Covid-19 recovered by 46% in Q1FY22. It remains to be seen how the remaining 54% pent up demand recovered in Q1FY23. We believe it is likely to be more than 54%, indicating a strong recovery in consumer demand, specifically in services which has helped in the likely strong Q1FY23 numbers.

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*Rates till the edition went to print.

—PTI INDIA’S CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION FALLS 3.8% IN JULY

Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon execs to depose before panel Representatives of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Goog le, Netflix, from their In dian arms and a few others will appear before the parliamentary panel on the issue of competitive behaviour in the digital market.

15 IPS officers in late-night move

Ahtesham Siddiqui Lucknow: The Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh transferred 15 IPS officers late on Monday night. Abdul Hameed, a 2006 batch IPS officer, has been made Deputy In spector General of Po lice, Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), Lucknow.IPSAkhilesh Kumar Chaurasia has been posted as Superinten dent of Police Estab lishment Headquarters, Director General of Po lice,ADCPLucknow.East of Luc know Commissioner ate, Syed Ali Abbas has been made

—PTI PHOTO Abdul Hameed, 2006 batch IPS, has been made DeputyNarcoticsPolice,GeneralInspectorofAntiTaskForce(ANTF)

New Delhi (PTI): Top executives of the Indian arms of Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft are scheduled to depose before a par liamentary panel look ing into anti-competi tive practices in the digital space later on Tuesday, the commit tee's chairman Jayant Sinha has said.

S Jaishankar with his Paraguay counterpart Julio Cesar Arriola at the new Indian embassy.

13 ministers and 10 MLAs from Rajasthan, who were made observ ers, reached Ahmedabad late on Monday night. After the meeting, these individ uals are scheduled to go to their respective dis tricts and chair a meet ing of party workers. Gehlot said in the meeting, “Our focus re mains on Gujarat. BJP is ruling Gujarat for 27 years. Now the atmos phere of Gujarat has changed. People here want change. There are indications that the Congress will return to power in Gujarat with a thumping majority.”

NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022 082ND FRONT www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Do you want things to change? Change the way you look at things. —Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India

hasishtamsionertionalhasKanpur.liceCommissionerAdditionalhasGautamliceAnkitasistantCommissionerate.Gautammissionerditionalate,knowADCPmarlice,CommissionerAdditionalofPoLucknow.AnilKuYadav,whowasNorthinLucCommissionerhasbeenmadeAdDeputyComofPolice,BudhNagarAsCommissionerSharmaofPoCommissionerateBudhNagarbeentransferredtoDeputyofPoCommissionerateIPSSaadMianKhanbeenmadeAddiDeputyCommisofPolice,GauBudhNagar.ManKumarShandilyabeenmadeAddi

VISIT TO HEIRLOOM NAGA, A WEAVING CENTRE, TODAY After inaugurating the Axis Bank branch in Mon dis trict, Sitharaman returned to the state capital Kohima where she flagged off a mobile ATM van of Nagaland Rural Bank which will serve the rural people of Mokok chung district. It was sponsored by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), officials said. Nagaland Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi and Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio were present on the occasion. On Wednesday, she is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting with Nagaland’s business community in Chu moukedima district and visit Heirloom Naga, a weaving centre, in Sovima village before leaving for New Delhi.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during a meeting with Defence Minister of Kazakhstan, Col Gen Ruslan Zhakslykov, in Tashkent on Tuesday. —ANI PHOTO/ RAJNATH SINGH TWITTER)

Ravi Sharma Ahmedabad: The much anticipated meet ing of Gujarat PCC was held on Tuesday, in which Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, party’s national organi zation general secre tary KC Venugopal, Gu jarat in-charge Raghu Sharma, Gujarat Con gress state president Jagdish Thakor, frontal department presidents, observers, senior lead ers, legislators and of fice bearers of the or ganization along with RTDC Chairman Dhar mendra Rathore attend ed the meeting.

Her father, Ajo Manji, a daily wage labourer, came forward to donate all her organs

Raj CM takes first-hand stock of situation, chairs meeting with leaders to draw party’s ‘strike plan’ for Gujarat Assembly polls

n FinanceCM’sLaunchesMicroScheme n branchAxisInauguratesBankinMon

CM Ashok Gehlot with (Left) Dr Raghu Sharma, KC Venugopal, Jagdish Thakor & others during Gujarat PCC meet in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

The ofSecretariat,issuedinmarketplace,ofingFinanceStandingParliamentaryCommitteeonhasbeenlookintovariousaspectscompetitionintheespeciallytechnologysector.AccordingtoanoticebytheLokSabhatheagendathemeetingis"Oral evidence of the repre sentatives of big tech companies on the sub ject mentarypearandfromzon,Apple,companies."practices'Anti-Competitive'bybigtech"RepresentativesofMicrosoft,AmaGoogle,Netflix,theirIndianarmsafewotherswillapbeforetheparliapanelonthe issue of competitive behaviour in the digital market," Sinha Representativessaid. of Swiggy and Zomato, Flipkart, cab aggrega tor Ola, hotel aggrega tor Oyo, and the All In dia Gaming Associa tion are among those who have already been called by the Sinha-led panel.

New Delhi (PTI): A 15-year-old girl, who met with a fatal road ac cident on August 15, saved with her organs the lives of six people, including a woman from Bihar's Bhagalpur who received her heart. The heart transplant on the 32-year-old wom an, with terminal heart failure following child birth, was conducted at the Atal Bihari Vajpay ee Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr RML Hos pital, here on Monday. The donor girl, Basu, had met with an acci dent on August 15 and was admitted to the PGIMER in Chandi garh with severe head injury.She was declared brain dead on August 20 and was kept on a venti lator to sustain her or gans, the statement said. After counselling by the transplant coordi nator at the Chandigarh hospital, her father, Ajo Manji, a daily wage la bourer, came forward to donate all organs of Basu to needful per sons suffering from end-stage diseases and awaiting healthy organs.Ateam of cardiac surgeons from RML Hospital and AIIMS led by Dr Narender Singh Jhajhria reached the PGIMER Chandigarh the same evening and harvested the donor heart which was then expeditiously flown to New Delhi within two hours. This was the first successful heart transplant at a talgovernment-runcentralhospiinNewDelhi.

Kohima (PTI): Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nir mala Sitharaman on Tuesday handed over loans worth Rs 205 crore to over 3,000 beneficiar ies and launched the CM’s Micro Finance Scheme in Nagaland, officials said. On the second day of her visit to the Northeastern state, she also inaugurated a branch of a private bank in Mon district and flagged off a Mobile ATM Van to serve the rural people of Mokok chungSitharaman,district. who is on a three-day visit to Nagaland, graced the Banker’s Conclave/ Credit Outreach Pro gramme and ceremoni ally handed over loans valued at Rs 205 crore under 11 major schemes to 3,422 beneficiaries. This is part of a total loan amount of Rs 223 crore to be given to 3,837 people. The banker’s conclave is part of the Nagaland governmentorganised three-day Corporate Social Re sponsibility (CSR) and Investment conclave in augurated by the Union minister on Monday. The 11 schemes un der which the loans were given include Prime Minister Em ployment BARD’sentrepreneursforStandMantriCreditProgramme,GenerationKisanCard,PradhanMudraYojana,UpIndiaschemeST,SCandWomenandNALivelihoodDe velopment of Tribal population through Orchards.Moneywas also given under the retail bank ing segment such as housing loans and auto loans, officials said. Addressing the bank ers’ conclave, Sithara man expressed hope that every government scheme would reach the actual beneficiaries. The Union minister lamented that though 70 per cent of the popu lation of Nagaland en gaged in agriculture, the number of benefi ciaries of the Kisan Credit Card is only 2.3 lakh.According to the 2011 census, Nagaland’s pop ulation is 19,80,602.

NAGALAND: SITHARAMAN GIFTS ` 205-CR LOANS

tional Deputy Commis sioner of Police, Com missionerate, Varanasi. Similarly, Abijith R Shankar has been made ADCP in DCPmarKanpur.SinghFatehpur,udh(City)marradabad,ADCPeep(Rural)AbhishekGautamKumarliceSuperintendentnamedhulCommissionerate.LucknowRaBhatihasbeenasAdditionalofPo(City)Bareilly,AnilYadavADCP,BudhNagar,BhartiADCPGhazipur,SandKumarMeena(Rural)MoSantoshKuMeenaasADCPPrayagraj,AnirKumarasADCPandLakhanYadavasADCP,RavindraKuhasbeenmadeKanpur. RlybytrainSubsidingtravel55%,saysMinister

❍ ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES

15-year-old accident victim saves 6 lives with her organs

Jaishankar inaugurates Indian Embassy in Paraguay Asuncion (Para guay) (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar jointly in augurated the new In dian Embassy here in Paraguay with his counterpart Julio Ce sar Arriola, express ing confidence that this new resident mis sion will take the bilat eral relations to great er Jaishankar,heights. who is on his first-ever offi cial visit to South America aimed at boosting bilateral ties, is also the first Indian Foreign Minister to visit Paraguay, coin ciding with the 60th anniversary of the es tablishment of diplo matic relations be tween the two coun tries. “Jointly inaugu rated the new Indian Embassy in Paraguay with FM Julio Cesar Arriola. Thank Minis ter of Interior @Fed ericoA_GF for his presence. A reitera tion of our strong bi lateral relationship and our tweeted.greaterParaguaywillnewtweetedtion,”multilaterallong-standingcooperaJaishankaronTuesday.“ConfidentthatthisresidentmissiontaketheIndia-relationstoheights,”he Bijnor (PTI): Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on TuesdaysaidthattheRailwaysgivesaconcessionof55percenttoitspas sengers and last year spent ` 62,000 crore on theThesubsidy.minister, who ar rived here on Tuesday on a two-day visit, said: "If the expenditure of the Railways is ` 100, then only `45 is charged from the passengers." Last year, Railways gave a total subsidy of ` 62,000 crore to differ ent categories of pas sengers, he said. Asked about any plans for new trains, Vaishnaw said there are startLimitedBharatthemunications,thecoach.secondarenotofbeingEMUunder-constructiontrainswhicharebuiltonthelinesthemetro,whichdohaveanengine,butpoweredfromtheorthethirdVaishnaw,whoisalsoMinisterforComsaidthat5GserviceofSancharNigam(BSNL)willinOctober.

TASHKENT FILES

Congress will come to power in Gujarat: Gehlot MY NAME BEING FLOATED FOR A LONG TIME, BUT ONLY RAHUL GANDHI SHOULD BECOME PRESIDENT: GEHLOT

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio inaugurates Axis Bank’s branch in Mon district in Nagaland on Tuesday.

Abdul Hameed

—Jayant Sinha, Panel chairman

Yogi govt transfers

Aditi Nagar New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday before leaving for Gujarat tour. On a question of his name being floated around in Congress circles as the next National Prez, Gehlot said, “My name is being floated around for a long time, I have been listening for a long time. No one is talking to me. My name is being run by the media that you are becoming the president, will you become the president. There are many leaders. Within the country, there are many workers in the organiza tion. When the opportunity comes, everyone will get together and discuss and will elect the president.” Notably, Gehlot had earlier categorically refused to become the president. “We have said it time and again that Congress will emerge afresh only when Rahul Gandhi will come to the post of President,” Gehlot said.

message is “have the courage to take action, and we’ll take care of the rest.” How much influence does this hue have over the fashion industry, and what are its upcoming trends?

City first delves into the passionate world of the people who love the colour red and decodes the significance of red! he color of love and

Thi ultimate color represents luck, passion, happiness, and even danger, red has had, is having, and will have utmost influence, especially in fashion world. Be it fashion apparels or other fashion accessories, alluring shades of red run deep, charming people into the mix.With an aristocratic excess, red is the fashion code for all seasons. Red makes a strong visual impact in the collections of designers, and fashionistas. Powerful and exciting, it can make a

dominance,power,resentationEvensinnerscolourshade.yetmakesdominance,courage,power,esalsosometimespassionsymboliz-strength,danger,andwhichitamysterioushighly-lovedcolorThispowerfulhasruledbothandsaints.thespiritualrep-ofredisenergy,vitality,assertion,

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in T

www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/ thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09 NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022 PAINT ME RED!

Tiwari, Bhagyashree Mundra, Soumya Goyal, Astha Khandelwal, Shrishti Khatri, Tanu Choudhary, Charvi Dutta and Muskan Kamdar

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Gaurav Gaur and Riya Suledia Surbhi Sabnani Mona Gautam, Vasudha Tiwari and Rutvi Tiwari Shrishti Khatri, Neelanjana Jangid, Megha Shyam Soni and Shubhdaa Panwar

10-11ETC NEW DELHI WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022www.firstindia.co.in https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia instagram.com/thefirstindia CITY FIRST BRINGS TO YOU SOME MORE GLIMPSES FROM THE JAIPUR AUDITIONS OF ELITE MISS RAJASTHAN 2022, SEASON 9 ORGANISED AT HOTEL HILTON, JAIPUR ON SUNDAY. THE PARTICIPANTS SHOWED IMMENSE ENTHUSIASM ON THE OCCASION AND TO WIN THE COVETED CROWN, THE BEAUTIES WALKED THE RAMP WITH CONFIDENCE AND GRACE. GAURAV GAUR, DIRECTOR OF ELITE MISS RAJASTHAN ALONG WITH DESIGNERS YASHEEL PANDEL, STUNNING SUPERMODELS INCLUDING AKANKSHA BHALLA, SHRISHTI KHATRI, CHARVI TANYA DUTTA, ASTHA KHANDELWAL, VASUDHA TIWARI AND DIVISHA PALIWAL WERE ALSO PRESENT ON THE OCCASION SHARMASUNILBY—PHOTOS BEAUTYITSBEST! Clockwise: Shrishti Khatri, Riya Sain, Mona Gautam, Bhagyashree Mundra and Navya Tiwari Himakshi Choudhary, Tanu Choudhary, Rutvi Tiwari, Soni Kumari and Nupur Jhankal Jagdeesh Chandra addressing the audience Divisha Paliwal, Vasudha Tiwari and Astha Khandelwal

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Akanksha Bhalla and Gaurav Gaur

Rewati Upadhyay with her mother

Shrishti Khatri with her mother

Aashish Sharma and Gaurav Gaur JD Maheshwari Karan

I started singing at the age of 5. Since I am from Bengal and my mother is a singer, as a child, I was always inspired by her. This is how my journey as a singer began. I got into professional singing after I shifted to Bombay and had taken part in reality shows like Sa re ga ma, Little Champs, Amul Star Voice of India, Bharat ki Shaan etc. Since then I have sung for movies and mu sic albums, and have re leased my music albums as well. And then acting happened accidentally. My acting journey began with a musical show. They needed a singer-ac tor for that show and they approached me. My first show as an actor was Udaan on Colors TV. I was also lucky enough to be a part of Laxmi along with Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani. What has been the best performance of your career so far? Every charac ter that I had played to date is very close to my heart and I try to give my best for all of them. It is very diffi cult to select one best per formance, yet if I have to then I will say that it is the character I played for the Hot star series Chat tis aur Maina. I played a second lead in the se ries named Dhani. What is biggestyourgoalas an actor? As an actor, my biggest goal is to see myself as an established actor in the entertainment in dustry. I truly admire the kind of position Priyan ka Chopra and Alia Bhatt has created for them selves in the industry. I always strive and aim for that. Describe your crea tive process. As a singer and actor, I make sure that I uti lise every moment. Even during a pandemic, I made sure to keep learn ing something new. I spent a lot of time read ing books and watching good content online that helped me brush my act ing skills. What would you do dif ferently if you were to start over again from day one? That is a very interesting ques tion. I started as a singer and then acting happened. So, the only regret that I have is not foraying into act ing right from the beginning. I spent the initial years in the industry concen trating only on my sing ing, whereas now I feel that acting is my ultimate goal. I could have spent those years learning and polishing myself as an actor. favours the bold!

UPCOMING FOOD EVENT!

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BIRTHDAY WISHES!

Founder of the Asian Heritage Foundation. The ‘Guest of Hon our’ was renowned poet, writer, art critic, and curator Prayag Shukla. The exhibition por trays a boldness of ex pression and consist ency of thought in the artist’s mind. In the se ries, Kadam has stayed away from memory.world,dreamspiecesideas.hibitsornamentationunnecessaryandexalucidflowofTheyarelikeofabstractfromthevirtualcherishedin cityfirstdel@gmail.com

12 NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia CITY BUZZGETSTAYVACCINATEDMASKED Colours of Mystery! CITY FIRST T he worldandShrikantanpaintingmanner.”portraymyformfacets.naturehiskantrenownedKala,ni22-30onexhibitionleadsThecludedShrikantMystery’nyopeningsplendidceremoof‘ColorsofbyKadamconinthecapital.openingceremonythewayforthethatwillbedisplayfromAugustattheShridharaGalleryTriveniNewDelhi.TheartexhibitionbyartistShriKadamhighlightsinterpretationofanditsvarious“ItrytotransnaturethroughimaginationanditinmyspecialThenewseriesoffersinsightintohowKadamviewscomprehendshisofemotions.Theopeningceremonywasattendedbythetopbrassoftheartcommunity.TheChiefGuestattheceremonywasPadmaBhushanShriRajeevSethi-ArchitecturalDesignerand

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhart@firstindia.co.in DANCE TO EXPRESS!

A mika Shail, an In dian eractresstelevisionandsingwhoisknown for television shows Naa gin, Baalveer Returns, and Divya-Drishti now shares her inspiring jour ney with City First Give some insights about your journey as an actor?

The food ingredients and health ingredients India, a food event will be held from September 14 to September 16 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The event is mainly based on food ingredients of India, making it must attend business platform for food and beverage in the country. The event offers the opportunity to source the latest and most innovative ingredients discovered in the heart of India.

Bollywood famous playback singer KK, who was born and brought up in Delhi celebrated his 54th birth anniversary on Tuesday. On his birthday, his wife Jyothy Krishna shared a sweet note with a picture on social media. His wife wrote: "Happy Birthday Sweetheart Love you, miss you so much, it hurts."

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Models flaunting astonishing designer collection

Sanjay Doral with Ravi on Tabla, Salim Kumar as Sitarist and Sandeep on Keyboard and third performance by Bharatnatyam exponent Aparajita Sarma with Guru SMT. Kanaka Sudhakar( Nattuvangam), SH Venkateshwaran Kuppuswamy (Vocal), SH MV Chandrashekhar (Mridangam), and SH V S K Annadurai (Violin).

CITY FIRST he Consulate Gen eral of India in Ho Chi Minh City, on August 10 held a press conference to inform about the Hello Vietnam Festi val (Namaste Vietnam) held in HCM City and Nha Trang City in central Khanh Hoa province, from August 12 to September 12.

First VietnamNamasteFest!

Shrikant Kadam and Sheela Chamariya Dharmendra Rathore Dr Urshila Chanana Parimal Chakraborty

First Namaste Vietnam Fest to Strengthen Vietnam - India Relations The First Namaste Viet nam Fest will be held to mark 75 years of Indian In dependence and the 50th an niversary of the establish ment of Vietnam-India dip lomatic ties (1972 – 2022). This festival is the inter section of culture and com merce, which is expected to become a connecting plat form to promote the bilateral relationship between the two countries Vietnam and In dia; thereby promoting tour ism, commerce, art, culture, music and cinema. The mega festival has been planned in line with Indian Prime Min ister Narendra Modi’s em phasis on the importance of Vietnam as a key to In dia’s Act East policy.

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KESHARWANIMANOJBY—PHOTOS