First India-Delhi Edition-24th September 2022

EX-OLYMPIAN DILIP TIRKEY IS HOCKEY INDIA PRESIDENT

REQUESTED RAHUL TO BECOME PRESIDENT, HE DENIED; NOW I WILL FILE NOMINATION: GEHLOT

Amit Mishra & Aditi Nagar

Kochi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday confirmed his candidature for the up coming Congress presi dent election and said that Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that “no member of the Gandhi family” would become the next party chief.

Speaking to the me dia, Gehlot, who was in Kerala to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said, “I said earlier that I will request him (Ra hul Gandhi) to accept this post when all the Congress Committees

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BOMBAY HC BOOST

FOR UDDHAV FACTION

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday granted permission to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to hold its annual Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai on October 5. The venue, where Sena had been holding its Dussehra rally year after year.

INDIA DEFEAT AUS IN 2ND MATCH

Nagpur: Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 46 of 20 balls helped India chase a massive 91-run target to level the series 1-1 in the second T20I in Nagpur here at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur which was impacted by rain.

are passing resolutions in this regard. He made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family will become the next chief. He said he has decided this due to some rea sons, a non-Gandhi fam ily member will become the party chief”.

When asked if it is because of the BJP’s al legations of nepotism, he said, “Rahul Gandhi said it in 2019 that he would work more with out any post. He had said this in the working committee. He said that he still stands on his statement that he would work for the par

INDIA’S FOCUS ON GREEN GROWTH, GREEN JOBS: PM

New Delhi (ANI): Drawing attention to the net zero emissions target for the year 2070, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that In dia’s focus is on green growth and green jobs.

At the inauguration of National Conference of Environment Minis ters in Ekta Nagar, Gu jarat via video confer encing, Modi stressed on the need to maintain equilibrium with na ture and said the role of environment minis tries of the states in achieving these goals is of vital importance.“I urge all environment ministers to promote a circular economy as much as possible in states,” he said.

These steps will sig nificantly strengthen the solid waste manage ment campaign and will free us from the clutch es of single-use plastic, Prime Minister Naren dra Modi said.

The Prime Minister also underlined the adoption of technology in protecting the envi ronment.

India has set a target of net zero till the year 2070. Now the focus of the country is on growth, on green jobs. And to achieve all these goals, the role of the environment ministry of every state is enormous. —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

ENTHUSIASM HAS RETURNED WITH CHEETAH: MODI

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Friday said a new enthusiasm has returned to the country from the homecoming of Cheetah in Madhya Pradesh re cently. He added that to day India is also a rapidly developing economy, and is continuously strength ening its ecology. While inaugurating the National Conference of Environ ment Ministers in Nar mada, Gujarat via video conferencing, PM Modi said, “A new enthusiasm has returned from the homecoming of Cheetah in Madhya Pradesh a few days ago.”

MEET POLITICAL LEADERS MORE OFTEN FROM ALL SIDES: FORMER VICE PRSIDENT NAIDU TO PM NARENDRA MODI

New Delhi: Former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said PM Narendra Modi should more often meet political leadership from all sides which may help clear some “misunder standings.” Naidu said this at the launch of a book titled “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas – Prime Min ister Narendra Modi Speaks (May 2019-May 2020).”

PFI’s Kerala bandh: Stone pelting at buses & vehicles

Thiruvananthapuram:

A day after Popular Front of India leaders were arrested in a mas sive country-wide raid, the outfit’s dawn-to dusk hartal began on Friday and incidents of stone pelting and attack on ve hicles including KSRTC buses by protesters were reported from various places in the state.

The shutdown in Ker ala was called by the PFI to protest the arrest of its members in na tionwide raids by the NIA on Thursday.

PILOT ASKED TO BE IN JAIPUR TILL FINAL DECISION TAKEN

Amid hectic lobbying in the Congress on the issue of the Rajasthan leadership, the party top brass has asked Sachin Pilot to stay put in Jaipur and meet MLAs till a final decision is taken. Pilot flew to Jaipur on Friday after being in Bharat Jodo Yatra and is waiting for the deci sion. Pilot, the former Deputy CM, is a strong contender for the Chief Ministership while hectic lobbying is going on in the state with names of GS Dotasra and CP Joshi also doing the rounds. (Agencies)

ty without a post, as the party says.”

“It’s decided that I’ll contest (for the post of Congress president). I’ll fix the date soon (to file nomination). It’s a need for the Opposition to be strong, looking at the current position of the country,” he said while adding that Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken and party inter im President Sonia Gan dhi will decide the fur ther proceedings (which inclued the CM face for Rajasthan) “if he be comes the president”.

Nitish betrayed anti-Congress politics for PM ambitions: Shah

Purnea (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday claimed that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar backstabbed the BJP to join hands with RJD and Congress, in order to fulfil his prime ministerial ambitions.

Shah alleged that Ku mar does not have any ideology, so he gave up socialism in favour of caste-based politics.

“Nitish-ji, you did the same thing in 2014. In the 2024 LS polls, people of Bihar will rout this Mahagathbandhan. BJP will form a govt with full majority in 2025 assem bly polls,” he said.

India’s advisory over Canada hate crimes

New Delhi: India on Fri day warned its citizens in Canada and students fly ing to Canada about a “sharp increase in hate crimes, sectarian vio lence and anti-India ac tivities”, and urged them to “remain vigilant”. The Foreign Ministry said it has taken up incidents of hate crimes, sectarian violence and anti-India activities with Canada and has asked for inves tigation and action. P6

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Justice In dira Banerjee demitted office on Friday after 4 years as a Supreme Court judge. Speaking at the farewell function organised by the SCBA, Justice Banerjee said that law was never her priority and she never wanted to become a judge as she valued her independence.

“Now after 20 years

BJP leader’s son confesses to killing 19-yr-old receptionist of his resort

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Pulkit Arya, owner of Vanan tra Resort by the Gan ges at Yamkeshwar in Rishikesh, along with friend Ankit Gupta and resort manager Sau rabh Bhaskar decided on September 18 to take out Ankita Bhandari, 19-year-old hotel recep tionist, for a chat.

momos,” police said.

As confessed to the police, Saurabh Bhaskar said that Pulkit Arya and Ankita Bhandari started argu ing. He was angry as Ankita had confided about Pulkit’s de mands—sexual favours for him and clients—to her colleagues. “After a few minutes the two got involved in a physical fight; an angered Anki ta tossed Turn to P2

of judgeship, I will be free once again. When I had time, I did not have money and when I had money, I did not have time. Now, I have both,” she said. More on P8

Mumbai: The Mumbai police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) on Friday submitted a voluminous charge-sheet against eight persons in a spe cial court in a case re lated to seizure of me phedrone worth around Rs 2,500 crore, an official said. The 4,818-page doc ument was filed in the special court set up un der the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Sub stances Act (NDPS Act), he said. The official said the charge-sheet was filed against eight ac cused persons.

‘Free again now’, says Justice Indira Banerjee

“They took off to Ri shikesh on separate bikes; Ankita sat be hind Pulkit. Pulkit, lat er, stopped at an isolat ed dark corner where he drank liquor with Ankit Gupta and ate

Ankita Bhandari (L) and the resort where she worked (R)

New

India’s for the

PM says need is to maintain with the

UNION HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH REACHES BIHAR FOR TWO-DAY VISIT

Patna: Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached Purnea in the afternoon on a two-day visit to Bihar beginning from Friday. This is his first visit to Bihar after CM Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) broke ties with BJP. On Saturday, Shah will visit the SSB camp and hold a review meeting with security officials at the BSF camp in Kishanganj.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah holds a mace during ‘Jana Bhavna Mahasabha’, in Purnia on Friday. Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh and others.

`2,500-cr drug haul case: 8 charge-sheeted

Police personnel patrol during bandh, in Kochi on Friday.

ED GETS 7 DAY CUSTODY OF 3 PFI MEMBERS

New Delhi: Three Popular Front of India (PFI) members were remanded to the Enforcement Directorate’s custody for seven days in connection with alleged money laundering to support terror activities. The ED produced Mohammed Parvez Ahmed (PFI Delhi Prez), Iliyas Ahmed (PFI Delhi Gen Secy) and Abdul Mukuit (PFI office Secy) before the Patiala House Court and sought their seven days custodial remand which was granted.

CM Ashok Gehlot being felicitated by Balasaheb Thorat during the joint birth anniversary celebrations of freedom fighter Bhausaheb

Thorat and pioneer of Green Revolution Dr. Annasaheb Shinde on Friday at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. Govind Singh Dotasra, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dr. Sudhir Tambe and others are also seen.

ED plea for case transfer allowed

Case is withdrawn from Geetanjali Goel & transferred to Special Judge Vikas Dhull

SC shifts all FIRs against journalist Navika Kumar to Delhi Police, says no coercive action

New Delhi (PTI): A Principal District and Sessions court on Fri day allowed an Enforce ment Directorate (ED) application seeking transfer of the money laundering case against Delhi minister Satyen dar Jain to another judge, saying the over all circumstances could raise apprehension of a probable bias.

The probe agency had moved the petition seeking to transfer the case from the court of Special Judge Geetan jali Goel to any other competent judge stating that there is a grave likelihood and a reason to believe that the is sues (in the case) have been premeditated.

Allowing the agen cy's application, Princi pal District and Ses sions Judge Vinay Ku mar Gupta said: In my considered opinion, the judge is a very upright officer. However, all the circumstances taken to gether are sufficient to raise a reasonable ap prehension in the mind of the petitioner as a common man, not of any actual bias, but a probable bias.

Accordingly, the ap plication is allowed and the case is withdrawn from the court of Spe cial Judge Geetanjali Goel and transferred to the court of Special

Judge Vikas Dhull, the Sessions judge added.

The Sessions court said the judicial process demands that a judge moves within the frame work of relevant legal rules and the question is not whether the judge is actually biased, but whether the circum stances are such to cre ate a reasonable appre hension in the mind of others that there is a likelihood of bias af fecting the decision.

BA.2 variant found in 90% Covid samples

New Delhi (PTI): Near ly 90 per cent of the COVID-19 samples ge nome-sequenced in Del hi in July and August were detected with the BA.2 variant of the vi rus, according to official data. A total of 1,271 samples were analysed in laboratories in July and 1,133 of those were detected with the BA.2 variant. No sample was detected with the BA.4 variant, while 138 were detected with the BA.5 variant of the virus.

It is not necessary that the apprehension should arise from a sin gle circumstance as it may be the cumulative effect of various cir cumstances past and present, it said.

Further, the Sessions court said that the agency's plea had to be tested from the point of view of public justice and not on the ground of hypersensitivity or relative convenience of a party.

New Delhi (PTI): In a relief to journalist Na vika Kumar, the Su preme Court on Friday clubbed and transferred to the Delhi Police all FIRs registered against the news anchor over the controversial remarks made by ex-BJP spokes person Nupur Sharma on Prophet Mohammad during a TV debate mod erated by her.

The top court noted that FIRs in the case of Sharma have also been transferred to IFSO Unit of Delhi Police for inves tigation and there can not be two investigating agencies with respect to the same complaints arising out of the same incident.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and Krishna Mu rari said no coercive ac tion shall be taken against Kumar for a pe riod of eight weeks so she can avail remedies in the interim period.

“The IFSO unit of

Delhi Police shall be at liberty to collect and gather any information from the concerned State agencies, if so re quired, for the purpose of conducting a thor ough investigation and taking it to its logical conclusion. The investi gation of any subse quent FIRs/complaints which are registered in future in respect of the same Newshour Debate telecast on Times Now shall also stand trans ferred to IFSO unit of Delhi police,” the bench said. The apex court granted her liberty to

No coercive action shall be taken against jounalist Na vika Kumar for a pe riod of eight weeks so she can avail reme dies in the interim periode.

—Supreme Court

approach the Delhi High Court for quashing of the FIR and said as and when such proceedings are instituted by Kumar, the same shall be con sidered in accordance with law and on their own merit.

“We clarify and make it clear that we have not expressed any opin ion on the merits of the allega tions contained in the vari ous FIRs/ com plaints," the bench said.

Manoj on firecrackers

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Fri day agreed to hear on October 10 the plea filed by BJP MP Manoj Tiwari against the Del hi government’s deci sion banning the stor age, sale, and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, 2023.

Contending that free dom of religion cannot be taken away under the pretext of the right to life, Tiwari also sought directions to all states not to take any coercive action

SC refuses to entertain PIL on liquor bottles

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL seek ing a direction to gov ernment authorities to ensure health warnings on liquor bottles like for tobac co products, saying the courts would not interfere in policy matters.

A bench compris ing Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and justices Indira Banerjee and S Ravindra Bhat said such deci sions fall un der the policy making do main of the govern ment.

Liquor

is 10 times more harmful than ciga rettes. Health warn ings on cigarette packets were made mandatory by court orders and the same direction can be passed here also, PIL petitioner and law yer Ashwini Upad hyay said.

“These all are poli cy matters. The courts cannot inter fere in these mat ters,” the bench said in the order.

NOTICE TO CENTRE ON PLEA SEEKING ACTION AGAINST FORCED RELIGIOUS CONVERSION

like lodging FIR against common people found selling or using per missible firecrackers during the upcoming Deepawali.

The BJP MP, in his plea filed through ad vocate Ashwani Ku mar Dubey, has said that several state gov ernments and certain high courts had in 2021 passed orders contrary to the stand taken by the apex court and im posed a blanket ban on firecrackers.

“With so many dif ferent orders, direc tions and views, it was confusing for the peo ple at large to under stand whether the fire crackers were allowed or not despite this court’s refusal to put a blanket ban,” said the plea.

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Centre and others on a plea seeking direction to take stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conver sion by “intimidation” and through “gifts and monetary benefits”. A bench of Jus tices M R Shah and Krishna Murari issued notices to the Union of India, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Law and Justice. The top court asked the parties to file a reply by November 14. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking direction to the Centre and states to take stringent steps to control fraudulent religious con version by “intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits”.

M Srinivas appointed as Director of AIIMS-Delhi

New Delhi (PTI): M Srinivas, Dean of ESIC Hospital and Medical College in Hyderabad, has been appointed as the Director of AIIMSDelhi.

Delhi witnessed a spike in the number Covid cases in August, with experts attributing it to people letting their guard down and not fol lowing Covid-appropri ate behaviour.

In August, 2,064 sam ples were analysed and 90.35 per cent of those were detected with the BA.2 variant, while 199 samples were detected with the BA.5 variant.

Arya’s phone in the riv er, and in retaliation, Pulkit pushed her off the road and into the river,” said police offi cials. Pulkit confessed that they immediately fled the spot.

Pulkit Arya is the son of former Uttarakhand minister Vinod Arya, a BJP leader, and brother of Ankit Arya, the sit ting vice-chairperson of Uttrakhand OBC Wel fare Commission.

For several days, the revenue police sat on

the case. The case was transferred to the regu lar police only on Sep tember 22, despite local media in Rishikesh re porting the case exten sively. The parents of the missing girl marched to the thana with MLA Renu Bisht, alleging that Ankita had been murdered.

Pulkit Arya was fi nally arrested on Fri day. along with his two accomplices, for ‘throw ing’ Ankita into the Ganges canal near Shakti barrage. Ankita had resisted Arya’s un

Dr Srinivas will suc ceed Randeep Guleria who has been holding the post since March 2017. Srinivas was a professor in the De partment of Pediatric Surgery at AIIMS-Del hi before he joined ESIC Hospital and Medical College in Hy derabad in 2016.

Dr M. Srinivas

The order stated the Appointments Commit tee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Srini vas to the post of Direc tor, AIIMS, New Delhi.

The police found a call recording, perhaps from the hours leading to Ankita’s murder, in which she is heard sobbing while talking to a resort staffer. The police are also in possession of Ankita’s WhatsApp chat with a colleague in which she says that Pulkit tried to kiss her forcibly. “He thinks I am naïve,” Ankita wrote. “Usne socha mai bahut bholi hu, kuch nahi karungi.”

Resort staff: “Kya kiya usne”. Ankita: “Kiss karne ki koshish ki, mene dhungse suna diya”.

crime. Having returned from the crime scene, the group tried to por tray business as usual, and behaved with the resort staff as if Ankita was still alive. The same night, the perpetrators left for Haridwar to avoid any queries.

From Haridwar, Pulkit Arya called up his resort and requested that Ankita Bhandari be called to the phone since he wanted to talk to her, in an attempt to create alibis.

When the hotel staff told him that Ankita

Bhandari was nowhere to be found, he called revenue officials – what locals call ‘patwari po lice’ – to report Ankita as missing.

The victim’s family, initially, tried to scour through CCVTV footage from the resort, since they claimed Ankita had talked to them over her cellphone from her room in the resort the night before she went missing. The cameras, however, were broken.

Local residents now want the resort to be razed by bulldozers.

welcome sexual advanc es, one police source said. According to one of the accomplices, Arya was also forcing

Ankita Bhandari to ‘ser vice’ clients, a euphe mism for prostitution. The victim hailed from Srikot village in

Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand and was recently hired as recep tionist at Arya’s resort. After throwing Anki

ta Bhandari into the Ganges canal, Arya and his friends concocted a story to mislead the po lice and cover up their

Court says overall circumstances could raise apprehension of a probable bias

MINISTER MOVES DELHI HC

The girl (R) who was killed by resort owner Pulkit Arya (L), manager Saurabh Bhaskar & asst manager Ankit Gupta

New Delhi (PTI): Dr Rajiv Bahl was on Friday appointed as Director General of the ICMR and Secretary of the Depart ment of Health Research for a period of three years. Bahl is currently the Head of Research on Maternal, Newborn Child and Adolescent Health cum-Newborn Unit Head, Department of Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, at the WHO in Geneva.

RAJIV BAHL IS NEW ICMR DG

Jagdish Vasudev, popularly known as Sadhguru, reaches Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi on Friday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

From 49 pc deficit to 16 pc excess

In just 24 hours Delhi-NCR received 72 mm rains against 58 mm recorded from Sept 1 to 22

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi recorded more than half of the rainfall in Sep tember in just 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Fri day, swinging from be ing rain deficient to rain surplus this month.

The Safdarjung Ob servatory, Delhi's pri mary weather station, recorded 58.5 mm of pre cipitation against a nor mal of 108.5 mm be tween September 1 and September 22 (Thursday morning). It received 72 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Friday, making it the first spell of heavy rain this month. From Sep tember 1 to September 23, the city received 130.5 mm of rain. Nor mally, Delhi records 125.5 mm of rainfall in September. The weather stations at Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge Ayanagar and Pusa received 102 mm, 71.4 mm, 41.4 mm, 106.2 mm and 51 mm of rainfall between 8:30 am on Thursday and 8:30 am on Friday.

Rainfall recorded be low 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm moderate, be tween 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm heavy, between 115.6 and 204.4 very heavy. and above 204.4 mm is extremely heavy rain.

Police arrest robber from interstate gang

New Delhi (PTI): A 37-year-old alleged member of an inter state gang of robbers was arrested from southeast Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan area, police said on Friday.

The accused has been identified as Mashroof alias Mashroor, a resi dent of Amroha in UP.

One semi-automatic pistol and four live car riages were recovered from his possession, they said. On Monday, information was re ceived that Mashroof will come near Sarai Kale Khan around 7 pm to meet one of his asso ciates, following which a trap was laid.

Now the total rainfall so far in September has come to 130 mm against normal 125 mm for the month

Erratic monsoon behind crop damage: Experts

150 young SPs to attend conference on cybercrime, drones

New Delhi (PTI):

About 150 young Super intendents of Police (SPs) and equivalent rank officers will at tend a two-day confer ence on cybercrime, drones, and other relat ed issues to be held here during September 29-30, officials said on Friday.

forcement agencies through expositions and demonstrations of latest technologies and gadgets related to police modernisation.

WFH ADVISORY, SCHOOLS SHUT IN GGM

Gurugram (PTI): The dis trict administration here ordered all private offices to work from home on Friday amid heavy rains.

The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), in an advisory, said all corporate offices and private institutions are advised to guide employees to work from home to avoid traffic congestion.

The advisory stated, “... all corporate offices and private institutions are advised to guide their employees to work from home so that traf fic congestion can be avoided and repair works

of roads and drains can be carried out smoothly by civic agencies.”

Deputy Commis sioner Nishant Kumar Yadav on Twitter said, “Gurugram District Ad

ministration has issued advisory for all corpo rate companies, private institutions to allow their employees to work from home in larger public interest.”

New Delhi: A mar ginal drop in the Kharif crop output due to uneven distri bution of rain this monsoon season is unlikely to impact food security or drive inflation up as India has enough re serves, agriculture and food policy ex perts have said.

They, however, said farmers, at the indi vidual level, have been hit the hardest by the highly erratic monsoon and many have not yet received help from state gov ernments.

According to the advanced estimates released by the Union Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday, the Kharif rice output is likely to decline by six percent - from 111 million tonnes last year to 104.99 million tonnes this year - in light of poor rains in

key rice-producing states.

The acreage under paddy, the main sum mer staple, dropped from 41.7 million hec tares last year to 39.9 million hectares this year, government data showed.

The monsoon has given surplus rains in south and central India, while east and northeast India have reported precipita tion deficit, said Ma hesh Palawat, vice president (meteorol ogy and climate change), Skymet Weather.

—PTI

Major delay in work on 7 hospitals of Delhi govt

New Delhi (PTI): The construction of most of the seven ICU hospitals with capacity of 6,800 beds that were planned to accommodate COVID patients during the third wave of the infec tion, has reached around only halfway mark so far, official data showed.

Work on the 458-bed hospital in Kirari, which was originally scheduled to be com plete by February 2023, had not started till Sep tember 17 this year, showed the data shared by the Delhi govern ment in a COVID review meeting of Delhi Disas ter Management Au thority (DDMA) on Thursday.

uled to be completed by December. Only 48 per cent work was complet ed on the Siraspur hos pital with 1,164 beds, which was scheduled to be complete by end of September next year.

The work on Jwalapu ri and Madipur hospi tals, which were sched uled to be ready by June 2023, was complete by only 65 per cent and 57 per cent.

The national young superintendents of po lice conference-2022 and police expo is man dated to create an inter face between technolo gy developers -- indus try, academia and gov ernment technical in stitutions -- and repre sentatives of law en

The theme of the ex position and conference will be Innovation and Research in Cyber crime Management, Drones and Counter Drones' and aims to cre ate awareness among young SPs from states and commandants from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) about latest technologies in areas such as cyber crime management, of ficials said.

CRUCIAL READ

New Delhi: A separate Kartavya Path Police Station has been set up for the newly inaugurated stretch, a government notification has said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier this month inaugurated the Kartavya Path, the stretch of road from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate earlier known as Rajpath. The Kartavya Path Police Station will oversee "local areas which have been excluded from the jurisdiction of police stations Tilak Marg, South Avenue and Par liament Street" the three nearest police stations. The revamped stretch is part of the Modi government's ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project.

HC ASKS GOVT TO INSTALL CARDIAC LIFE SUPPORT

WALL COLLAPSE: 2ND CONTRACTOR ARRESTED

A 610-bed facility at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya in Geeta Colony and 525-bed one in Sultanpuri were only 50 per cent and 45 per cent complete. Both hos pitals are now sched uled to be ready by No vember 2022.

The Sarita Vihar hos

pital with 336-bed capac ity is expected to be complete by October this year, with only 60 per cent work done till September 17, as per the data. The 1,912-bed facil ity at GTB Hospital and another 1,430-bed one in Shalimar Bagh were completed by 45 per cent and 50 per cent till Sep tember 17. Both are scheduled to be ready by end of this year.

The Hastsal hospital was just 12 per cent ready and was sched uled to be complete by December 2023.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has direct ed the government to ensure the advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) service is installed on the court premises before Decem ber 6. It also asked the Delhi government to explore the possibility of either stationing ACLS ambulances at district courts or erecting porta cabins for this service.

Noida: The Noida police on Friday arrested the second accused contractor in connection with the wall collapse in the city on September 20 that led to the death of four construction workers, officials said. The police had on Tuesday arrested Gul Mohammed, a sub-contractor who had supplied labourers.

Only 30 per cent work was done in the 1,577bed hospital which is coming up in Raghubir Nagar. It is now sched

These 11 hospitals will prove to be helpful in fighting situations like the COVID pandem ic and emergency cases efficiently, Sisodia had earlier said.

The HC further directed Delhi Metro to explore the possibility of setting up ACLS services at all major interchange stations within 6 weeks and file an affidavit in this regard before the next hearing on Dec 6.

“Accused Sundar Yadav has been arrested. He was supervising the repair work and was present at the spot at the time of the incident but had gone at large after the wall collapsed,” ACP (Noida 1) Rajnish Verma said.

Kumaoni Dalit becomes qawwal in Delhi, transcending caste and religion

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Ten years ago, a 16-year-old Dalit boy from Kumaon left his home because his father refused to buy him a harmonium for his qawwali career. To day, Sarvjeet Tamta has a qawwali band of his own called Rehmat-eNusrat and is set to per form in Delhi’s Sundar Nursery on Saturday.

The journey that be gan ever since he first heard Nusrat’s ‘Saanu Ikk Pal Chain Na Aave’ at 15 hasn’t been easy.

Sarvjeet’s father had deep insecurities about his son’s future as a mu sician. Folk artists weren’t well paid or re spected in society—a situation that hasn’t changed much in the 10

years since—and so he wanted his son to be come an engineer. But Sarvjeet had set his mind on music.

A few months after he left home, Sarvjeet found a job of teaching music to kids at a school in Pant Nagar, 100 km from his hometown Al mora. One day, he was asked to clean the toi lets because he was

Dalit. He quit and sur vived without money by sleeping on roads. A self-taught qawwal, he also landed up at the homes of stalwarts like the Wadali brothers and Fakira Khan, the Man ganiyar singer.

“I hadn’t eaten for the whole day,” Sarvjeet re called meeting Wadali brothers for the first time. “He (Pooran

Pooran Chand Wadali, the el der brother, served me with his own hands. He asked me in Punjabi where have you come from? From Nainital? Eat this pa neer also.

Chand Wadali, the el der brother) served me with his own hands. He asked me in Punjabi ‘where have you come from? From Nainital?

Eat this paneer also’,” Sarvjeet said.

Then the music be gan. Today, Sarvjeet is a rare qawwal who also writes his own songs, often with a strong so cial context.

REHMAT-E-NUSRAT

S arvjeet formed Rehmat-e-Nusrat in 2014. “He called me in 2019 and said I sing folk. But when we met, he revealed that he sings qawwali too,” says Ashutosh Sharma, the co-founder of Amarrass Records, a music label which has brought glob al recognition to The Barmer Boys, a Rajas thani folk music band.

“His qawwali has a rooh (soul) which many lack, and I encouraged him to keep singing folk as well,” Sharma said.

From ‘Mera piya ghar aaya ho laal ni’ to ‘Nit Khair Manga’, Rehmat-e-Nusrat sings the qawwalis of Nusrat

Fateh Ali Khan, Sufiana Kalams by Amir Khu srao, Meera Bai, Baba Bulleh Shah, Rumi along with their original com positions. The group of young musicians make a swift transition from a hard-hitting qawwali to a mellifluous Kumaoni tune in no time. For Sarvajeet, politics and music are intertwined. He loves singing folk,

but says that the art form limits him to his Dalit identity. “I started singing folk but could never return to it in the same way once I understood the baggage associated with it. If I am singing qawwali, I am a respectable singer. But If I sing Kumaoni folk back home, I am back to being a Dalit,” he said.

T here is a percussion instrument called Hudak used in Kumaoni folk. One who plays it is called Hudki ya. But Hudkiya is not a re spectable word and is used for Dalits only. “People from other castes getting into folk singing are not called Hudkiya,” said Deepak Tiru wa, Sarvjeet’s mentor and writer whose composition the group sings during live performances. “If the gov ernment wants to preserve folk art forms and remove the caste factor from them, then they should make Hu dak a subject in universities or colleges,” Sarvjeet said.

“Preserving the traditional art form should not be the sole responsibility of a caste group. I love folk as a music form, and I will keep singing it, but don’t expect that only Dalits should preserve it,” he added.

—Sarvjeet Tamta, Qawwal

Sarvjeet Tamta and his qawwal band.

Rain-soaked roads at the India Gate on Friday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Gaurav Saini

A vehicle stuck on the waterlogged Delhi-Gurugram Expressway service road on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI

The estimated dip in Kharif rice output is linked to rain deficit in east UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal

NEWLY LAID KARTAVYA PATH GETS SEPARATE POLICE STATION AS WELL

ACB

Representative image.

WHAT WERE MODI AND PUTIN REALLY TALKING ABOUT?

ERA OF WAR

HATE CRIMES ARE MAKING CANADA UNSAFE FOR THE INDIAN DIASPORA

There are nevertheless three compelling reasons to suppose that a Ukrainian victory is less imminent than adepts of turning points are inclined to believe. The first is obvious fact that even after change of fortune & exceptional pressure on their own resources, Russia is still a stronger force than Ukraine

After the apparent success of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, politicians and the media have taken to evoking what they see as a “turning-point.”

Doughty warriors such as General David Petraeus, for example, have expressed in the media their counter-intu itive belief that Ukraine can win the war. Earlier this year, in May, Patraeus had already asserted that “Ukraine has won,” so no one should be surprised to learn that he now believes the Ukrainians can win. Turning points are always good for believers.

There are nevertheless three compelling reasons to suppose that a Ukrainian vic tory is less imminent than the adepts of turning points are inclined to believe. The first is the obvious fact that even after the change of for tune and exceptional pres sure on their own resources, Russia still represents a stronger force than Ukraine. That would point to a stale mate rather than a victory for either side. The second is that

TWO VIEWS ON HIJAB: WEAR IT; BURN IT

the decision-makers in the White House, the Pentagon and Congress appear to favor a lasting standoff to a deci sive victory. The third is that the apparent triumphs of September may be eclipsed by the imminent bad news developing in Europe, as the cost of electricity and heat ing begins to skyrocket at the approach of winter.

Without the kind of highlevel political solidarity that European governments have demonstrated throughout the spring and summer, a Ukrainian victory is unim aginable. Many European governments will soon find themselves under serious pressure coming from their populations that were not consulted on a commitment to war, especially a prolonged war. The people are less like ly than ever over the past seven decades to identify with the idea of following the dictates of Washington and London. They now find them selves trapped in apparently uncontrollable inflation cou pled with an ever more likely recession. After the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghan istan last year, Europeans are less inclined to believe that the US can be trusted as their ally and protector.

The problem is becoming more severe in the rest of the

The headline of an article by Mary Ilyushina in The Washington Post stated, “Modi rebukes Putin over his war in Ukraine.” In the meeting Modi famously said: “Today’s era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this”

world. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bravely resisted all the blandish ments and subtle pressure of the US to align with the West against Russia. But the West has never given up hope that that might change. Last week, Modi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and made headlines in the West, who applauded Modi for chal lenging the Russian leader. The headline of an article by Mary Ilyushina in The Wash ington Post stated, “Modi re bukes Putin over his war in Ukraine.” In the meeting Modi famously said: “Today’s era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this.”

Any moment in history, even those epochs in which people believe that peace is the norm made inevitable by their pro claimed belief in the ideals of democratic harmony, the rule of law and a prosperous glo balized economy from which everyone is expected to gain an advantage.

CONTEXTUAL NOTE

Should this be called a re buke? Only Western media, desperately seeking to inter pret any remark that isn’t praise as condemnation could consider this a repri mand, reproach or rebuke. Business Insider avoids us ing the word rebuke and in stead, more accurately, calls it a “remark.” But using in the same sentence the now obligatory epithet “unpro voked war,” the author con veys a similar meaning and even suggests that it is part of a global trend. “The Russian president’s remarks to his In dian counterpart echoed comments on Russia’s unpro voked war in Ukraine that he made to Chinese leader Xi Jinping the day prior. ‘We highly value the balanced po sition of our Chinese friends when it comes to the Ukraine crisis,” Putin said to Xi at the summit in Uzbekistan.’”

SOURCE: FAIROBSERVER

the Quran, their protest

India is watching hate crimes rising against Indians in Canada’s Ontario province and has accordingly cau tioned students going there. Ac cording to Statistics Canada there was a 72 percent increase in hate crime rate between 2019 and 2021. Partly, it was said to be due to the pandemic “which exacer bated safety and discrimination issues”. In the recent past hate crimes against Indians have in creased with two Indian students being shot early this month.

This and a rise in anti-India activities have forced the Minis try of External Affairs to issue an advisory for Indians living in Canada asking them to be vigi lant.

Canada is a sanctuary for proKhalistan activists and, regret tably, the Canadian government has done little to check the Khal istanis or act against those in volved in hate crime. As Paki stan is ever ready to fish in such troubled waters and keeps incit ing the anti-India elements.

The once immigrant-friendly country, Canada is becoming relatively unsafe. It, however, remains a preferred destination for Indians.

Hijab, they argued, is

There are conflict ing arguments for and against hijab. The argument put forth by Muslim students of Karnataka, who were barred from entering schools wearing hijab, is that the head scarf protects their privacy and it is an essential part of clothing as per Islam ic faith. The girls’ lawyer ar gued in the Supreme Court that not allowing hijab has led to increased dropout of Muslim students from schools. Senior advocates Yu suf H. Muchhala and Salman Khurshid, representing the pro-hijab petitioners in the Supreme Court, argued that the court was ill-equipped to interpret the Quran due to its insufficient proficiency in Arabic.

The pro-hijab groups can argue that the Shia Islam is different from that of Sunnis so comparisons should be avoided. The hijab should be viewed as apparel that restricts women’s freedom but one will have to wait for the SC’s verdict

a Muslim woman’s “choice of cloth to feel empowered as well as protect her dignity”. Far away in Iran women are having an issue for an en tirely different reason. As suming that they have better proficiency in Arabic and, therefore, they can interpret

“Woman, life, freedom” is against hijab and Iran’s mo rality police. The worst wave of protests to rock Iran in recent years was triggered by the death in custody of Kurd ish woman Mahsa Amini. The morality police accused her of not wearing her hijab properly and allegedly as saulted her leading to Ami ni’s death. In protest Iranian women are not only burning their head scarves on roads but also cutting their hair.

The pro-hijab groups can argue that the Shia Islam is different from that of Sunnis so comparisons should be avoided. The hijab should be viewed as apparel that re stricts women’s freedom but one will have to wait for the Supreme Court’s verdict.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

This one’s for all those times you made an excuse for not accomplishing your goals.

Bhagavad Gita

Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal

India will take over G20 Presidency from Indonesia in December this year. In my meeting with H.E @ZUL_Hasan, the Chair of the Trade, Investment & Industry Ministerial Meeting at #G20Indonesia, extended India’s full support leading up to the Summit in Bali later this year.

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp

Sought blessings of Maa Kali at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata. Situated on the banks of Hooghly, the divine temple was founded by Rani Rashmoni in 1855. A Hindu navratna temple and a Shakti-Peetha, it is one of the holiest and most revered temples in our country.

TOP TWEETS

PETER ISACKSON

Can Cong give message by holding polls?

‘It is nonsense that if elections are held, the party will break or Tharoor being made to contest under some conspiracy’

Mahesh Sharma

New Delhi: There is every possibility of elections for the new president of the Con gress party this time. If elections are held and there is a contest be tween leaders outside the Nehru-Gandhi fam ily, then the country’s oldest party Congress can give a message of internal democracy through it. It is non sense that if elections are held, the party will break or Shashi Tha roor is being contested under some conspiracy.

If the party has to break, it will break any way. In the states, the party is breaking down.

If big leaders are leav ing, then it is not right to not hold elections in this concern or talk about consensus for the post of president. It seems that Sonia Gan dhi has made up her mind to get rid of the charges of dynasty to some extent by holding elections this time.

That is when it is be ing said that she gave the green signal to Shashi Tharoor to con test the elections. It is also possible that Shashi Tharoor has been asked to fight on behalf of the party high command. Making a leader of So nia’s own choice as par ty president who is loy al to the family, without

DIGVIJAY SINGH NOT TO CONTEST

CONGRESS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Madhya Pradesh(ANI):

Clearing the air of speculation over his nomination for the All India Congress Com mittee (AICC) presiden tial election Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday said that he was not in the race for the party chief.

Addressing a press conference in Jabal pur, the veteran leader

conducting an election, does not give the mes sage which will be given by the election between two leaders. Everyone knows that if Ashok Ge hlot contests elections and gets support from Gandhi family, he will win with a big margin. Despite this, having an election would create his legitimacy and im

said that he would not contest the Cong Presidential election, but he would follow the instruction given to him by the higher authority in the party.

pose his moral authori ty. So, if Tharoor is fighting on the behest of anti-family leaders in the party, then it is also good and if he is con testing on the signal of the Congress’ ‘first fam ily’, then too it is good. It is always a better op tion to hold elections than to impose a presi dent.

Nadda holds meeting with BJP’s TN SC, OBC morcha

Tamil Nadu (ANI): The BJP president JP Nadda holds a meeting with Schedule Caste (SC) and OBC morcha of Tamil Nadu’s Shiva ganga.

State office bearers and district presidents of the morcha were pre sent in the meeting.

Nadda is on a two-day visit to Tamil Nadu from Thursday to chalk out a strategy for the party in an effort to in crease the voter base in southern states ahead of the 2024 LS elections.

Post this meeting, Nadda will also take a meeting of state office bearers, district presi dents and prabhari’s at the same venue, as per the BJP sources.

Nadda also offered prayers at Pillayarpatti

Vinayagar temple and had breakfast at the residence of the BJP

HOODA MEETS SONIA GANDHI AHEAD OF CONGRESS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

New Delhi (ANI): Haryana Cong leader Bhupinder Hooda met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Friday. This comes ahead of the Cong presidential election. “In our meeting today, we spoke about the party and how to strengthen it. She said that she has a neutral stand regarding the Con gress president election” Hooda said. Cong General Secy Madhusudan Mistry, via an official notifica tion, on Thursday, announced the schedule for the upcoming election for the post of Cong President.

‘REFRAIN FROM COMMENTING ON CANDIDATES’ CONG PREZ ELECTION IS SHAM: BJP

New Delhi (ANI): According to the sources, Congress General Secretary incharge of Commu nication department Jairam Ramesh has urged all the depart ment’s stakeholders to refrain from un necessary comments on the subject in the message sent to spokespersons and media panellists.

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday took potshots at the Cong & said the presidential poll is noth ing but an eyewash as the next party chief would be remotely controlled by the Gandhis. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla slammed CM Gehlot & the Cong saying that Gehlot’s statement had let the cat out of the bag about Congress’ socalled elections.

CONGRESS’S STERN MESSAGE AFTER PARTY LEADER TAUNTS THAROOR

New Delhi: A day after Congress leader Gourav Vallabh slammed Shashi Tharoor over his probable AICC president poll bid, the party today urged all its spokespersons and communication depart ment office bearers to refrain from commenting on any colleague contesting the elections. Vallabh yesterday had hit out at Tharoor over his probable AICC president poll bid, saying his “only major contribution” to the party was to send letters to Sonia Gandhi when she was hospitalised.

LCA Tejas is very capable aircraft: IAF

New Delhi (ANI): Com manding Officer of 45 squadrons of Indian Air Force also called Flying daggers, Group captain Syamantak Roy on Thursday said Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is very capable aircraft and is equipped with world-class mis siles.

SC STAYS FRESH PROCEEDINGS AGAINST BS YEDIYURAPPA

With Cong Prez being ‘elected’, perhaps party wouldn’t mind to elect its WC too!

Sharat K Verma

New Delhi: Since the ‘election’ of the Con gress President will be conducted soon, simi larly, following the same lines, if even half of the working committee members are elected, it will be even better for the party. The members of the Working Commit tee have not been elect ed in Congress for a long time. According to the Congress constitu tion, out of 23 members of the Working Commit tee, 12 members will be nominated by the Con gress President and 11 members will be elect ed. Madhusudan Mistry,

Sonia, Priyanka to participate in ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’

Bengaluru (PTI): Cong President Sonia Gandhi & Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would participate in the K’taka leg of the “Bharat Jodo Yatra” led by Rahul Gandhi that will be entering the state on Sept 30, state party chief D K Shivakumar said on Friday. “In K’taka, Cong President Sonia Gan dhi may attend the Bharat Jodo Yatra some day, and Priyanka Gandhi will also be joining separately,” Venugopal said.

the head of the Con gress’s election author ity, has also announced this. If there are more than 11 nominations for the remaining 11 mem bers in addition to the 12 nominated members, then voting will be held.

After Sonia Gandhi be came the Congress Pres ident, for the first time in 24 years, the mem bers of the Working

Committee may be elected. Although the delegates who elect the working committee will be of the choice of the Cong President, there fore the leader of the President’s choice will be elected, despite this, it will be a good thing to have an election.

Before this, the last time the members of CWC were elected was in 1997 in the Calcutta session. From Pranab Mukherjee to Sharad Pawar and Ahmed Patel to Arjun Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Madhav Rao Scindia, Jitendra Pras ad and Tariq Anwar, everyone was elected president.

Kerala HC expresses displeasure over boards and flags on highways

Kerala (ANI): The Kerala HC on Thursday expressed displeasure over boards & flags on the highways as part of the Congress ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. “Ille gal Instillations have been made by a particular politi cal party on every side of NH from Trivandrum to Thrissur and even beyond; and that even though the Police Authorities and other statutory authorities are fully aware of this, they have chosen to turn a build eye to it,” the court

IN THE COURTYARD

DELHI HC DIRECTS FLIPKART TO DEPOSIT `1 LAKH FINE IMPOSED BY CCPA

Mandal President in Sivaganga today ahead of his meeting.

“The Sular Air Force base lies in the center of the southern penin sula, which ensures that we have reached not only overland to wards the north and towards the east, but also over the seas to the east, west and to the south. That makes us a very capable aircraft in terms of projecting our combat force all over the country,” Roy told ANI here.

INCREASE IN HATE CRIMES

New Delhi: The SC on Friday stayed proceedings against former Karnataka CM and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa in an alleged corrup tion case. A bench of Justices D Y Chandra chud and Hima Kohli issued notice to the private complainant on a plea challenging the Karnataka High Court order restoring the complaint against Yediyurappa and oth ers. “There shall be a stay of proceedings so far as the petitioner is concerned,” the bench said. The Kar nataka HC on Sept 7 had restored a private complaint against Yediyurappa and his family members.

Govt issues advisory for students in Canada

lll

Advisory comes amid a diplomatic row between India & Canada over the recent holding of a so-called referendum by “pro-Khalistan” elements

New Delhi (PTI): India on Friday advised its na tionals in Canada and those travelling to that country to exercise due caution and remain vigi lant in view of the “sharp increase in inci dents of hate crimes, sectarian violence and anti-India activities” there.

In an advisory, the MEA also said the High Commission/Consu lates General in Canada have taken up these inci dents with the Canadian

authorities and request ed them to investigate these crimes and take appropriate action. The perpetrators of these crimes have not been

above, Indian nationals and students from India in Canada and those pro ceeding to Canada for travel or education are advised to exercise due caution and remain vigi lant”, the advisory said.

New Delhi: The Delhi HC passed an order on Friday in the Flip kart vs CCPA (Central Consumer Protection Authority) case, direct ing Flipkart to notify the buyers of the pressure cookers, that pressure cookers on their site do not conform to the Bureau of Indian Stand ards (BIS) standard.

It further directed the company to deposit the sum of Rs 1 lakh as the penalty amount before the Registrar General of the Court.

SC AGREES TO LIST PLEAS AGAINST ARTICLE 370 AFTER DUSSEHRA BREAK

New Delhi: The SC on Friday said that it will list the matter-- chal lenging the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories-for hearing after the Dussehra break.“We will certainly list it,”

said a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit. The Dussehra break will remain from October 3 to October 9. The counsel mentioning the matter for urgent list ing told the bench that this matter has been pending for a year.

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday told the SC that they are working on the suggestions giv en by the court to assist medical students who have returned to India from Ukraine in view of the war with Russia. The apex court had on Sept 16 suggested that the Centre assist these medical students by creating a web portal giving details of the foreign universities, where they could com plete their courses as per the govt’s academic mobility programme.

The counsel appearing for the Centre told the top court that they have written to the secretar ies of the ministries of external affairs as well as health on the issue.

brought to justice so far in Canada, the MEA said.

“In view of the in creasing incidents of crimes as described

Indian nationals and students from India in Canada may also regis ter with the High Com mission of India in Ot tawa or the Consulates General of India in To ronto and Vancouver through their respective websites.

Tamil Nadu (ANI): Eu logising the advantage of Atmanirbhar Bharat in IAF, Sulur Air officer

Commanding Air com modore Rahul Gupta has said the initiative would not only boost In dia’s indigenisation pro duction but also enhance defence capability.

“Indigenisation is definitely the way for ward and if you do not indigenize and remain dependent on foreign vendors then you will forever be dependent on them. Indigenisation is

the only way forward ahead. I feel ALH and LCA are definitely step ping in the right direc tion. This will not only boost our own indigeni sation production but also our defence capabil

ity,” Gupta told ANI. He said that the Sulur Air Force base is strategi cally located in the pen insular part of the coun try to address threats from both the land and maritime domain.

Shashi Tharoor Sonia Gandhi

Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi

observed. Single Bench of Justice Devan Ramachan dran observed this while considering the matter of illegal banners and boards on roads.

Atmanirbhar Bharat will boost our defence capability: IAF official

‘WORKING TO ASSIST UKRAINE RETURNED STUDENTS’

JP Nadda being felicitated during a meeting of State Office Bearers and District Presidents of OBC and SC Morcha at PLP Palace, Karaikudi, in Sivaganga on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI

RELIANCE ACQUIRES

20 PER CENT STAKE IN CAELUX FOR $12 MN

New telecom bill in 6-10 months: Min

New Delhi (PTI): The new telecom bill, which will re place the 137-year-old Indi an Telegraph Act, is expect ed to be in place in 6-10 months but the government is not in a hurry, communi cations minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.

Vaishnaw said when asked about a timeline for imple mentation of the final bill.

The minister gave over 36 minutes of detailed pres entation on the draft bill.

New Delhi: Reliance In dustries Ltd on Friday said it has acquired a 20% stake in Californiabased solar tech firm Caelux for $12 million as it strengthens its new en ergy manufacturing capa bilities. Reliance New En ergy Ltd, signed defini tive agreements to invest in Caelux Corporation, a engaged in the develop ment of perovskite-based solar technology. The partnership is expected to help Reliance produce higher efficiency and lowcost solar modules at its gigafactory in Jamnagar, Gujarat, where an inte grated photovoltaic plant is being set up.

NESTLE PLANS TO INVEST `5,000 CRORE IN INDIA BY 2025

The bill also seeks to re place the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 and the Telegraph Wires (Un lawful Possession) Act, 1950. “Based on the consul tation process, we will cre ate the final draft. That draft will then go through committee processes of Parliament. Then it has to go (to) Parliament. I see a timeline of 6-10 months but we are not in a hurry,”

If the bill gets approved then over-the-top players like Whatsapp, Zoom and Google Duo which provide calling and messaging ser vices may require licences to operate in the country.

While the government has sought reference from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on li censing framework for in ternet and calling messag es, the bill clearly shows the government intent to bring the OTT apps under the licensing regime.

“OTT already comes un der regulation by interpre tation of what is a tele graph. The consultation process for its regulation has already started. The focus of this bill is that we

Govt making efforts to keep inflation under 4%, says FM

have to make a light touch regulatory environment. Wherever required there should be strict effective regulation and in rest of the places there will be light touch regulation,” the

RBI may raise rates again by up to 50 bps

WHAT THE BILL WILL CHANGE

z The new telecom bill will replace the 137-year-old Indian Telegraph Act and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950

z If the bill gets approved then over-the-top players like Whatsapp, Zoom and Google Duo which provide calling and messaging services may require licences

minister said.

The bill proposes all in ternet calling and messag ing apps to comply with the Know Your Customers (KYC) provision when they come under telecom

OTHER

TATA GROUP TO MERGE 7 METAL COMPANIES INTO TATA STEEL

licence ambit.

The minister said the first fundamental thought in the bill is about protec tion of users and every consumer has the right to know who is making the call. “If calls can take place from different platforms then every platform needs to come under the same kind of regulation. This is not only in India, this is the thought process across the world. Technology has brought so many changes that the distinction be tween voice call and data call has disappeared,” Vaishnaw said.

He said that KYC norms will also help in curbing cyber frauds.

NON-LIFE INSURERS SEE 12% RISE IN PREMIUM INCOME

New Delhi: Global food & beverage conglomerate Nestle SA plans to invest `5,000 crore in India in the next three-and-a-half years by 2025, its CEO Mark Schneider said on Friday. The move will help the company to ac celerate its core business in the country and lever age new opportunities for growth. The investment would be on capex (capi tal expenditure), setting up new plants, acquisi tions and expansion of the product portfolio of the company.

—PTI

TVS MOTOR ROLLS OUT CELEBRATORY EDITION OF JUPITER

Pune (PTI): Union Fi nance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government was making efforts to keep in flation under 4% and steps were being taken to ensure people get essential goods at fair price and on time.

She said steps were be ing taken to

WHAT NIRMALA SITHARAMAN SAID

z As far as inflation is concerned, I have been answering questions (on the issue). Steps were being taken to keep inflation at one level, for example, duty on imported edible oil is being removed so that affordable oil comes into the country

certain level. Replying to a question on rising prices, the minister said, “As far as inflation is con cerned, I have been an swering questions (on the issue) in Parliament every time they have been raised. Steps were being taken to keep inflation at one level, for ex ample, duty on imported edi

ble oil is being removed so that affordable oil comes into the country.”

She said the issue of in flation should be under stood in global context.

“America is experiencing the kind of high inflation which was not witnessed in the last 40 years. Germany is facing high inflation which was not experienced in the last 38 years. We are taking efforts to keep infla tion under 4% and efforts were being taken to ensure that people get all goods at fair price and on time,” Si tharaman added.

Asked about the rupee hitting a record low against the US dollar, Sitharaman said the government looks at every aspect of the econ omy. “Be it inflation, ex change rate...We are look ing at everything,” the minister said.

Mumbai (PTI): Econo mists are unanimous in forecasting that the central bank has no other option but to deliver a 50 bps rate hike next week and take the terminal rate to 6.25% by December.

Soumya Kanti Ghosh, the group chief economist at the nation’s largest lend er SBI, in a detailed note on Monday said, a half-per centage point hike in the repo rate looks imminent in an aggressive response to external shocks.

“We expect the peak repo rate in the cycle at 6.25%. A final rate hike of 35 bps is expected in December policy,” he said.

Sensex falls for 3rd day, ends 1,021 points down

Chennai: Two- and threewheeler major TVS Motor has rolled out a celebrato ry edition of its scooter TVS Jupiter Classic, com memorating the ‘fastest five million vehicles on road’ milestone, the com pany said on Friday. The TVS Jupiter Classic has been introduced at a price of `85,866 (ex-showroom in national captial). The scooter gets a premium rendition with black theme across its mirror, fender garnish, tinted visor and a 3D black premium logo.

—PTI

GOLD FALLS `139; SILVER PRICE ALSO DECLINES BY `363

Mumbai (PTI): The Sensex tumbled 1,020 points while the Nifty crashed below the 17,350-mark on Friday as a flurry of rate hikes by glob al central banks spooked investors and sparked a global sell-off.

Sliding for the the third straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 1,020.80 points or 1.73% to close at 58,098.92.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty plummeted 302.45 points or 1.72% to end at 17,327.35.

PowerGrid led the Sensex losers’ chart with a

drop of 7.93%, followed by M&M, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, HDFC and IndusInd Bank.

Only three counters managed to close in the green — Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and ITC, spurting up to 1.53%.

ESIC scheme adds 15.72

lakh new members in July

New Delhi: Gold price in the national capital fell by `139 to `50,326 per 10 grams on Friday amid a fall in international pre cious metal prices, ac cording to HDFC Securi ties. In the previous trade, the yellow metal had fin ished at `50,465 per 10 grams. Silver also fell sharply by `363 to `58,366/kg from `58,729/kg in the previ ous trade. In the interna tional market, gold was quoting lower at $1,665 per ounce.

—PTI

New Delhi (PTI): Around 15.72 lakh new members joined the ESIC-run social security scheme in July 2022, according to official data released on Friday.

The latest data is part of a report — Payroll Report ing in India: An Employ ment Perspective - July 2022 — released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

It showed that the gross new enrolments with Em ployees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) rose to 1.49 crore in 2021-22, from 1.15 crore in 2020-21. It was 1.51 crore in 2019-20 and 1.49 crore in 2018-19.

From September 2017 to March 2018, around 83.35 lakh new subscribers joined the ESIC scheme.

The report said gross new enrolments with ESIC from September 2017 to July 2022 were 7.08 crore.

EQUITY INVESTORS

POORER BY `4.90 LAKH CRORE

New Delhi (PTI): Investors’ wealth eroded by over `4.90 lakh crore on Friday amid a sharp fall in equities. The market capi talisation of the BSE-listed firms plummeted by `4,90,162.55 crore to `2,76,64,566.79 crore on Friday. This is the third day of decline for the equity market and the BSE benchmark has fallen by 1,620.82 points or 2.71% during this time. In three days, investors wealth has eroded by `6,77,646.74 crore. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 2.28%.

` FALLS 19 PAISE TO CLOSE AT LIFETIME LOW OF 80.98/$

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee slumped 19 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 80.98 against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by the strong American currency overseas and risk-off sentiment among inves tors. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local cur rency breached the 81-mark for the first time ever and slumped o 81.23 against the American cur rency. It finally ended at 80.98, down 19 paise over its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee plunged by 83 paise.

AS KHARIF SOWING NEARS TO END

New Delhi: Tata Group will merge seven of its metal com panies into Tata Steel to drive efficiencies and reduce costs. The amalgamation will be through a share swap, Tata Steel said in a statement. The board of Tata Steel approved the amalgamation of subsidiaries -- Tata Steel Long Products, Tata Metaliks, The Tinplate Company of India, TRF Ltd, Indian Steel & Wire Products, Tata Steel Mining and S&T Mining into itself. —PTI

New Delhi: Non-life insur ers registered a 12% yearly growth in their gross direct premium income dur ing August this fiscal at `24,471.95 crore, data from insurance sector regulator Irdai showed. According to the data pro vided by the Irdai, a total of 24 general insurers witnessed a 9.3% growth in their collective gross direct premium income in August at `17,101.75 crore as against `15,648.63 crore in the year-ago period. —PTI

FOREX RESERVES DOWN 5.2 BILLION US DOLLARS TO 545.65 BILLION US DOLLARS AS OF SEPT 16 Mumbai: The country’s forex kitty continued its southward journey, with the overall reserves declining by $5.219 billion to $545.652 billion for the week ended September 16, the RBI said on Friday. The reserves, which have been dipping as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid a pressure caused majorly by global developments, had declined by $2.23 billion to $550.87 billion in the previous week. The fall in the reserves for the week ended September 16 was on the account of a dip in the Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves.

M&M AND BII COMMIT $500 MILLION FOR ELECTRIC SUV SPACE

New Delhi: Mahindra Group and British International Investment (BII) have com mitted $500 million capital for the electric sports utility vehicle space, according to a spokesperson. Impact inves tor BII has already announced an investment of $250 million in the company’s electric ve hicle venture ‘EV Co’. As per an agreement between the two partners, the new electric vehicle company is envisaged to have a total capital infusion of around $1 billion between FY24 and FY27 for planned product portfolio.

—PTI

—PTI

CIL TO INK PACTS FOR 4 COAL GASIFICATION PROJECTS IN INDIA

New Delhi: State-owned CIL will sign agreements with three public sector enterprises — BHEL, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and GAIL —in order to set up four surface gasification projects. Through gasification process, coal is converted into syngas — a fuel gas — which can be used in downstream production of value added chemicals. The government aims to achieve 100 million tonnes of coal gasification in the next eight years in order to reduce the import of crude oil which is otherwise used to produce syngas. —PTI

Paddy acreage down by 5.51% from last yr

New Delhi (PTI): As sow ing of kharif (summer) crops almost comes to an end, paddy planting con tinued to lag behind as sown area under this crop fell 5.51% from last year to 401.56 lakh hectare so far, according to the agricul ture ministry.

Besides paddy, there is marginal lag in sowing of pulses, oilseeds and jute/ mesta. Consequently, the total sown area under kha rif crops declined 1.24% to 1,097.57 lakh hectares so far this kharif season, as against 1,111.36 lakh hec tares in the year-ago period,

it said. Sowing of kharif crops had begun with the onset of southwest mon soon from June. Harvesting of some kharif crops has started and will be in full swing from October. Releasing the latest sow

ing update, the agriculture ministry said area planted to paddy remained lower by 5.51% at 401.56 lakh hec tares (ha) so far this kharif season of the 2022-23 crop year, as against 425 lakh hectares in yr-ago period.

RICE OUTPUT MAY FALL 13% TO 96.7 MILLION TONNES IN KHARIF THIS YEAR

New Delhi(PTI): Rice production may fall by 13% to 96.7 million tonnes in kharif season this year due to fall in paddy acreage, according to Origo Commodities’ initial estimates. In a statement, it said that rice production in kharif season for 2022-23 “is seen lower by 13% y-o-y at 96.7 million tonnes against 111.17 million tonnes in 2021-22”.

“Paddy acreage has declined by around 9% compared to last year while yield is projected 5% lower from the last year. The crop yield had adversely impacted due to deficient rain in UP, West Bengal and Bihar.

A SELECTION OF SPEECHES

CRACKDOWN ON PFI

APPROPRIATE: INDRESH KUMAR

New Delhi (PTI): Sen ior RSS leader Indresh Kumar on Friday termed as “appropriate” the NIA-led crackdown on the PFI and took ex ception to incidents of violence during a hartal called by the Islamic group in Kerala, saying the Sangh too was banned in past but it never took the path of violence to resist.

The Popular Front of India (PFI) is facing the crackdown based on its “track record” collected by the central govern ment from time to time and a violent reaction to the action proves they do not have faith in humility, peace and Constitution of the country, he added.

“The governments had imposed a ban on Sangh (RSS) also in 1948, 1975 and 1992. But, it never organised a vio lent movement or took the path of violence to resist. It resisted all the lies peacefully, constitu tionally and legally, and won. The governments were proved wrong,” Kumar told reporters, when asked for his com ments. “Hence, if they take the path of vio lence, it proves that they don’t believe in humili ty, peace and the Consti tution as well as unity and integrity of Bharat (India),” he added.

Kumar, Rashtriya Swayamsvak Sangh’s national executive mem ber, was speaking to re porters on the sidelines

New Delhi (PTI): RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s visit to a mosque and his meeting with the head of an organisation of imams were not a deviation from the outfit’s line, its senior leader Indresh Kumar said on Friday. “There has been no change in the Sangh’s line. It continues to remain the same as it was and will remain so in the future. That is eternal. People have misunderstood it as they have been misled. Efforts have been made to create a misunder standing,” Kumar said while replying to a reporter’s ques tion. He said Bhagwat’s meeting with Ilyasi was part of the Sangh’s initiative to hold a dialogue with the minority communities, which began over 20 years ago under the leadership of the outfit’s former chief, K S Sudershan.

PFI calls for strike, Cong halts ‘padyatra’: Kapil Mishra

New Delhi (PTI): Nothing can be more “petty and shameful”, Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra said alleging that the Congress halt ed its ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on Friday as the Popular Front of India (PFI) has called for a strike in Kerala.

Replying to Mishra’s allegations, Congress’ media and publicity de partment chairman Pawan Khera said the yatra has one-day break each week. “PFI and Is lamic jihadist organisa tions today gave a call for strike and Congress halted its Padyatra (march). Nothing can be more petty and shame ful,” Mishra, a former minister of the AAP-led Delhi government and now a firebrand leader of the Delhi BJP, said in a Hindi tweet.

SC grants time to woman to file documents against Shahnawaz in rape case

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Fri day granted a week’s time to a woman, who has lodged a rape com plaint against BJP lead er and former union minister Shahnawaz Hussain, to bring on re cord certain “material” documents.

Mukul Rohatgi and Sid dharth Luthra ap peared on behalf of Hussain, till recently a minister in the Bihar government.

of an event organised to mark the 104th Haifa Victory Day at Teen Murti Chowk. He

termed the crackdown as “appropriate” and said the action is being taken on the basis of

Another blow to Ansari, gets 5-yr jail in Gangster Act case

First India Bureau

Lucknow: The Luc know Bench of the Al lahabad High Court on Friday sentenced for mer MLA Mukhtar An sari to five-year impris onment in a 23-year-old case related to the Gangsters Act.

The sentence was pronounced after an FIR was lodged against Mukhar at the Hazrat ganj police station. Jus

The gangster-turnedpolitician was also fined `50,000 by the court

tice D K Singh passed the order overturning the acquittal by a spe cial MP-MLA court in 2020. Placing arguments on behalf of the state government, Additional Government Advocates

UC Verma and Rao Nar endra Singh said the Hazratganj SHO had lodged an FIR in 1999, alleging that Mukhtar and his associates com mitted heinous offenc es, including murder, extortion, kidnapping and abduction.

Earlier this week, Mukhtar Ansari was awarded seven-year jail in another case for threatening a jailer and pointing a pistol at him.

PFI’s “track record” col lected by central govern ment “from time to time, not by political party”.

Taking a dig at Mishra, Khera asked him if it is true that RSS head Mohan Bhag wat, who recently reached out to the Mus lim com munity, was to embark on a march to seek apolo gy from the PFI.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Jus tice S Ravindra Bhat took note of the sub missions of the counsel for the complainant woman that some “ma terial facts” relating to the alleged offence have been concealed by the counsel for the BJP leader and he wanted to bring that on top court’s record.

If you wish to file something, please file them in a week. We will list the matter on Octo ber 12 for hearing, the

Earlier, the top court had on September 19 deferred the hearing on the appeal of Hussain against a Delhi High Court order relating to an FIR against him on the woman’s complaint alleging rape. The SC bench had on August 22 stayed the operation of the high court order.

First India Bureau

New Delhi: K Raja Prasad Reddy of Telu gu media group was elected president of the Indian Newspaper So ciety (INS) for 2022-23 on Friday at its 83rd an nual general meeting , a statement said. He suc ceeds Mohit Jain of the Economic Times. Tan may Maheshwari from Amar Ujala was elected as the INS treasurer, the statement added.

bench told lawyer Sand eep Kumar Singh, ap pearing for the woman.

Senior lawyers

Prior to this, the high court had on Au gust 17 dismissed Hus sain’s plea challenging a trial court order di recting the Delhi Po lice to register an FIR against him, saying there was no perversi ty in the 2018 order, and vacated its earlier interim order staying the operation.

Allahabad HC seeks reply from govt on politician Shrikant Tyagi’s bail plea

First India Bureau

Prayagraj: The Alla habad High Court has directed the UP govern ment to file a reply within three weeks on a bail application filed by politician Shrikant Tyagi, arrested for as saulting a woman resi dent in a Noida society.

While hearing the bail plea, Justice Ma yank Kumar Jain asked the additional govern ment advocate to file a

FAREWELL

counter affidavit within 3 weeks. The court has fixed October 17 as the next date of hearing. He was also booked in a

tions 354 (outraging modesty of woman and assault), 447 (criminal trespass), 323 (voluntar ily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimida tion) of the IPC.

case of cheating for al legedly misusing the UP government symbol on his car. Tyagi has been booked under sec

Earlier, he also claimed to be the na tional executive mem ber of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha and the nation al co-coordinator of its Yuva Samiti. However, the party denied any links with him.

Banerjee hopes there will be more women in the Supreme Court

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Justice Banerjee was the eighth woman judge and now with her retirement, there would be 3 women judges in the apex court

First India Bureau

New Delhi: “I do hope that there will be more women in the future... hope there is coopera tion for the weaker, and there be equality and justice in the shortest span of time. Thank you all”, Justice Indira Banerjee said in her concluding remarks at her farewell function on Friday. “I stepped into

the Supreme Court 36 years ago to argue a case but at that time never thought about what des tiny has in store for me”, she said at the function organised by the SC Bar Association.

In a message to young lawyers, she said that the legal profession re quires patience and per sistence and one should not be disheartened.

The CJI in his address said, “Collegiums al ways pick the best of the

and dedication-means a lot and that’s Justice Ba nerjee for you”. He said that it is often said, “It does not matter what you covered in your journey but what mat ters is how you covered your journey and I can say that she has covered a long way in these 20 years with grace, pa tience, and compassion.

lot. 20 years of judicial service, single-minded

The bar must thank Justice Banerjee’s

friend who had per suaded her to join the law profession or else we would not have got this jewel”. The CJI said, “I got to share a bench with Justice Ba nerjee for a few days and I must say that I had got immense con tribution from her. For today’s ceremonial bench, which I don’t consider as ceremonial, I called her and asked

my sister how many matters should be listed to which she replied the entire board should be listed. This is the kind of dedication and com mitment she has”. Attorney General KK Venugopal also praised Justice Banerjee for the way she conducted the court and recalled that she was the most popu lar chief justice in Ma dras High Court.

Says the Sangh, too, was banned in the past but it never took to the path of violence to resist, like the PFI has done

The action is being taken on the basis of PFI’s ‘track record’ collected by the govt, not by political party: Kumar

RSS leader Indresh Kumar (2L), Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon and General (Retd) VK Singh (MoS-Civil Aviation & Road Transport & Highway) attend Indo-Israel friendship forum 104th HAIFA victory day celebrations, in New Delhi on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI

‘BHAGWAT’S MOSQUE VISIT, MEETING WITH IMAM NO DEVIATION FROM SANGH’S LINE’

(L to R) Arif Mohammed Khan, Governor of Kerala, M. Venkaiah Naidu, former Vice President, Anurag Thakur, Union I&B Minister, launch the book ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ (a collection of selected speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi) at Rang Bhawan Auditorium in New Delhi on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI

MATERIAL FACTS

Supreme Court judge Justice Indira Banerjee (retd). —FILE PHOTO

Shrikant Tyagi is accused of assaulting a woman resident in a Noida housing society.

K Raja Prasad Reddy elected INS president

BAGS: THE FIRST AFFAIR

bag is a common tool in the form of a non-rigid container. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earli est bags being no more than lengths of animal skin, cotton or woven plant fibres, folded up at the edges and secured in that shape with strings of the same material. In the modern world, bags are ubiquitous, with many people routinely

ety of them in the form of cloth or leather briefcases, packs. Bags made ble materials such as paper or plastic are being used for shopping

ry home groceries.

en prefer these bags due

to their high-end idiosyncrasy. These bags are differentiated on the basis of their inherited craftsmanship. The goodwill of these brands across the globe is another factor that influences the purchase of these handbags.

Distinctive designs and styles are an added factor that posi tively influences the behaviour of the customer towards the purchase of luxury handbags.

The impact of celebrities en dorsing these luxury handbags has increased since 2001. Wom en aged between 17-30 years are majorly influenced by celebri ties endorsing luxury handbags. Besides, women aged 54 years and above are hardly influenced by these endorsements. The re search was conducted to identi fy the various factors influenc ing the inclination of women customers towards luxury handbags. As per the recent trends, it was noted that the de mand for luxury handbags has increased because of their highend idiosyncrasy. The demand has also increased because the goodwill of these brands across the globe is another factor that influences the purchase of these handbags.

A woman’s purse defines her existence and personality. What she carries, the style of the bag, the brand of the bag and the con tents inside define the owner. One look into a purse can reveal whether or not the woman is or ganised, and non-conformist and can even give some into what

PARTY TIME!

CITY FIRST

Fashion icons Shaine Soni and Vishal Modi hosted a soiree to celebrate the launch of the Seabuck Rainbow's cosmetic range in presence of eminent guests from the fashion and social fraternity at the Aquila nightclub in Delhi recently. Amidst cocktails and mouth-watering snacks, guests danced till the wee hours to the tunes of the resident DJ belting out club hits.

Among those who attended the par

ty included Viresh Verma, Akansha Popli, Meeta Chaturvedi, Rina and Manoj Rai, Minal Modi, Akash K Ag garwal, Vivek Mishra, Shivang Ka poor, Manuj Sharma, Laurent, Nidhi and JC Chaddha, Ruhi Ganguly, Sha hana Mookherjea, Deepali Chatrath, Pallavi Mohan, Sanjay Nigam and Ketan Bhatia, etc.

"Aquila is known for its fashionable evenings hence will continue with more parties in the coming

CITY FIRST

Spearheaded by president Ra jender Mittal, Aryan Heritage Foundation's rendition of Broadway Ramlila will be organised from September 29 to Octo ber 4 at Netaji Subhash Place at Pitampura in New Delhi. The show intends to be donning a new avatar adding new interesting character arcs of Ahilya, Kaykai, Hanuman and Ravan to be portrayed through its three-hour capsule.

There are 17 original soundtracks by Udit Narayan, Kailash Kher, Kumar Vishu, Jeetend er Singh, music direc tion by Chandra Kamal & Bharat Kamal, direc tion by Shashidharan Nair and a tightly weaved narrative by Valmiki, voiced by Mukesh Khanna.

Broadway Ramlila

Art Weekender ’22

CITY FIRST

CITY FIRST

Mittal said, “We in tend to nurture tender minds and bring them to appreciate the her itage of Incredible India.” “This year the show is even more spectacular as we get to do it out in front of a live audience,” Ish war Bansal, chairman of the Aryan Heritage Foundation, said. “We are trying our

best to take all permis sions in time to avoid last-minute confusion,” Anil Garg, general secretary, said.

Treasurer Ajay Gupta said, “Thanks to our donors as thou sands of people can ex perience this show for free every day." Sau rabh Mittal, senior vice president, said, “This production was always

meant to be a great trib ute to Shri Ram.” Vice president, Anuj Jai karan, said, "Technolo gy has been our driving force and we fully em brace it at Broadway Ramlila.” It’s Sunder kand portion was or ganised on Hanuman Jayanti and the CM an nounced that it shall be performed in all con stituencies of Delhi.

Art Fervour has organised a 3-day AF Week ender 2022, which is a first-of-itskind all-India art week ender happening simul taneously across 18 cit ies, starting from Sep tember 23. It will in clude art exhibitions, guided heritage walks, film screenings, walk throughs, treasure hunts and workshops.

Nivedita Poddar, cre ative director and founder at Art Fervour, said, “Our first AF Weekender was suc cessfully conducted digitally as everything else in 2021. So, this year we are back with our second edition of AF Weekender but this time we envision it to be an all-India art event spread across 18 cities! We are happy to also an nounce that the AF Weekender now has over 60 participants from across the art world.”

It was showcased to celebrate the joy of the city’s and fash The launch start in the presence of a list of renowned the

The attendees enjoyed the soirée as they min gled and brought life to the evening.

The fashion fra ternity in the capital recently got together at Kylin Sky Bar at Vasant Kunj Ambi ence Mall to celebrate the unique launch of the fashion festival that marks the collab oration of Medusa with Ambience Mall. The launch was host ed by Sonal Jindal, founder of The festival will the ion and lifestyle start ing from September 26.

This is a unique in tersection of visual art, technology, design, her itage and culture which features galleries, mu seums, institutions, studios, collectives, residencies, etc. This is geared towards engag ing a wide range of au diences, especially the youth and is committed to creating a new com munity of art lovers, collectors, buyers, practitioners and en

thusiasts, all while making the arts acces sible, fun and immer sive to everyone.

More than eighty

events will take place in New Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kol kata, Santiniketan, Bengaluru, Jaipur,

Chennai, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Varanasi, Pune, Surat, Vadodara, Leh, Hyderabad and Goa.

Sonal

Artworks

Vishal and Sharma Chadha and

Laurent

Sanjay

Babli Chatrath and Shahana Mookherjea

Abhishek

Shivaang Kapoor

Reena

Viresh Verma and Akansha Popli Shelly Dhondhiyal and Neelam Saxena

—PHOTOS BY MANOJ KESHARWANI