New Delhi: Defence exports have grown by 334 per cent in the last five years and India is now exporting to over 75 countries due to collaborative efforts, the govt said on Sunday. PIB said, “The Indian Defence sector, the second largest armed force is at the cusp of revolution.”
Hyderabad: Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav’s half centuries put India in cruise mode but Australia then put squeeze in the death overs. India lost Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul early but Kohli and Suryakumar’s sensational 104-run stand for 3rd wicket, which came in just 62 balls, almost took game away from Australia.
Chandigarh: After days of squabble between Raj Bhavan and the AAP government over holding an assembly session, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit Sunday gave his nod to convene the House on Sept 27. As per order, Governor has summoned a daylong session on Tuesday.
Jaipur: It seems that the politics of Rajasthan, and more specifically of Cong, has come at cross roads. While on one hand CM Ashok Gehlot is gearing to file nomina tion for the post of Cong Prez and Sachin Pilot is
being considered as high command’s choice as CM, but, Gehlot camp has become angry with Pilot’s name & ‘rebelled’ against supposed nomi nee of high command.
Even before legisla ture party meeting on Sunday, MLAs of Gehlot faction gathered at house of Dhariwal and resigned after reaching Joshi’s house. Cabinet minister Pratap Singh
Khachariyawas claimed that 92 MLAs have re signed. “Our only de mand is that CM should
Rome: Italy on Sunday started voting for general election that could yield the nation’s first female Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni Far-right Brothers of Italy party – led by Meloni – is poised to make significant gains after collapse of 2 govts since the last election, if her party wins, she could also become Italy’s 1st PM. Crucial CASE
not be made out of the people who rebelled. There is displeasure among the legislators as
Rishikesh: Mortals re mains of Ankita Bhandari was taken to NIT ghat from mortuary in Srinagar, Pauri Gar whal for the last rites on Sunday. During the day, the family of a 19-yearold woman receptionist agreed to conduct her last rites after they re ceived a call from Utta rakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. The family had earlier refused to conduct the last rites until the full post-mortem results were revealed.
The father of the girl has also questioned the Uttarakhand govern ment over the demoli tion of the resort and asked, “Why was the resort razed when it had evidence?” A massive protest had erupted out side mortuary where Ankita’s father arrived to take her body. Pro tests have blocked the road with people assem bling in protest and even making their own food and staying on. The protesters also block Badrinath-Rishikesh highway demanding ac tion against culprit.
Expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya and father of the main ac cused in the Uttarakhand receptionist murder case on Sun day said his son Pulkit Arya is a “seedha sadha balak". The former BJP leader denied all charges against his son and maintained that Pulkit is innocent, “Seedha sadha balak hai. He is only concerned about his work. I want justice for both my son Pulkit and the murdered woman,” Arya said. “He would never indulge in such activities,” he added.
After WhatsApp chats, a phone call recording has come to the fore to add another twist to the murder case of 19-year-old receptionist Ankita Bhandari. Pulkit Arya told Pushp on call, “We left with Ankita in the evening and came back to the resort at 9 pm after visiting Rishikesh. Ankita also came with us and had dinner. But she was not found in her room the next morning, hence we started looking for her.”
New Delhi: Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi has declined central govt’s proposal to be appointed as next Attorney General for India. Rohatgi was to be replacing KK Venugopal. Asked about his decision, Rohatgi said there is no particular reason for declining offer, “thought about it again” and decided not to take up the offer.
New Delhi: 2 unidentified militants were killed in an encounter near LoC at Tekri Nar in Machil area in north Kashmir’s Kupwara on Sunday.
“Identification of the killed terrorists being ascertained,” a J&K police spokesman said. 2 AK 47, 2 pistols & 4 hand grenades recovered.
Late on Sunday night, Shanti Dhariwal, Dr Mahesh Joshi, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, and Sanyam Lodha met Maken at Hotel Marriott with a 3-point agenda prepared after discussion with all MLAs.
1ST AGENDA: CM should be made out of 102 loyal MLAs.
2ND AGENDA: CM deci sion should be taken after October 18. 3RD AGENDA:
to why decision was not taken after asking legis lators,” PSK said. It is being told that Cong in-
CM should be made after Gehlot's consent. Later, they also went to CMR but talks failed. Late night MLAs returned to their homes.
charge Maken briefed high command & spe cifically Sonia about whole situation in Raj and after that Sonia di rected Maken to speak to MLAs on a one to one basis.
New Delhi: Prime Min ister Narendra Modi ad dressed the nation on his monthly radio pro gramme Mann Ki Baat on Sunday. “As a tribute to the great freedom fighter, it has been de cided that the Chandi garh airport will now be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh,” PM Nar endra Modi said.
“People from all corners of the country have ex pressed happiness over the return of cheetahs to India. 1.3 crore Indi ans are elated and filled with pride.” “A task force will monitor Chee tahs, on the basis of which we’ll decide when you can visit them.”
“On occasion of Bapu’s birth anniv on Oct 2, we have to take a pledge to intensify ‘Vocal for Lo cal’. Through our reso lution, we now include local artisans & crafts men in joy of festivals.”
New Delhi (PTI): Five persons, including two Union Health ministry staff, have been arrest ed for allegedly duping people of Rs 15 crore on the pretext of getting them work-related or ders for transportation of Covid vaccines to dif ferent states, police said on Sunday.
Hermenn Sabherwal (43), Govind Tulsian (52), Diprana Tiwari (32), Trilok Singh (53) and Mrityunjoy Roy (44)
To gain the trust of the complainants, the ac cused took them to the Union Health ministry office inside Niman Bhavan premises, where they imperson ated as Ministry officers and obtained signatures of the complainants on forged work orders.
were nabbed by the Eco nomic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police.
Singh is employed as
a Multi Tasking Staff at the Health ministry on a permanant basis while Tiwari is also an MTS but on a contract basis. “Roy was on dep utation with Minister of Home Affairs from SSB and was a recep tion officer in the Min istry of Health and Family Welfare at Nir man Bhawan,” a police statement said.
A probe was initiated after several complaints were received.
IMPORTANCE OF INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE: A lot of emphasis has also been given in the National Educa tion Policy to maintain a fixed standard for Sign Language.
INTERNATIONAL MILLET
YEAR: Celebrating 2023 as ‘International Millet Year’. I have received many letters in which people have written how they have made millets a part of their daily diet.
TB FREE CAMPAIGN: “Many people are coming forward and are adopting 1 TB pa tient or the other, taking lead in ensuring a nutritious diet.
“A long human chain
‘Swachh Sagar - Surak shit Sagar’ was formed, in which about 5,000 young friends from NSS collected more than 30 tonnes of plastic in Goa after the Ganesh utsav.”
Dhaka: At least 23 peo ple were killed and sev eral dozen more were missing on Sunday after a boat capsized in a riv er in Bangladesh, police said. “We have recov ered 23 bodies. Fire fighters and divers are searching for more bod ies,” local police official Shafiqul Islam told. The boat was packed with up to 50 Hindu pilgrims, police said.
They were travelling to a centuries-old tem ple when the vessel sud
People gather to block the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway in protest against killing of a receptionist Ankita Bhandari, at Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal district on Sunday. PHOTO BY ANIACCUSED PULKIT ARYA TRIED TO MISLEAD ANKITA’S FRIEND, REVEALS CALL RECORD
We have called every employee in the resort to the police station; will take everyone’s statements. We’re running a full background analysis on the resort.
—PR Devi, DIG, SIT in-chargedenly tipped over and sank in the middle of Karotoa river near Boda in northern Bang ladesh. Another police officer said up to 25 peo ple were still missing. boat capsize in Karotoa river, Bangladesh on Sunday. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Sunday chief Sonia Gandhi Yadav said. The two leaders, she also suggested, must meet new Cong president and decide. P5 PHOTO BY ANI Aditi Nagar, Amit Mishra, Yogesh Sharma, Naresh Sharma, Laxman Raghav, Ashvini Yadav and Ziauddin Khan Shanti Dhariwal, Ram Lal Jat, Tikaram Jully, Babu Lal Nagar and other Congress MLAs leaving from Dhariwal’s home to Speaker Dr CP Joshi’s residence late on Sunday. —PHOTO BY SUNIL SHARMA LEADERS MEET MAKEN WITH THREE-POINT AGENDA BUT THE LATE NIGHT TALKS FAIL MANN KI BAAT: SUNDAY MARKS 93 EPISODES OF THE SHOW Chandigarh airport will be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh, says Modi NOT EVEN ONCE...: NADDA HAILS PM MODI BJP nat’l prez JP Nadda on Sunday praised PM Modi for not referring to politics, “not even once”, dur ing his radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’ in last eight years. AMARINDER SINGH SAYS ‘GRATEFUL TO PM’ Former CM of Punjab and new member of BJP Captain Amarinder Singh thanked Modi for grateful deci sion to rename Chandigarh Airport after Bhagat Singh. PENDING DEMAND OF PUNJABIS FULFILLED Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann wel comed the announce ment, saying a long pend ing demand of Punjabis has been fulfilled.
A 10-year-old boy was physically assaulted and sodomised alleged ly by his three friends in northeast Delhi's New Seelampur area, police said on Sunday.
Two of the accused has been apprehended and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and efforts are on to ap prehend the third child, police said.
The Delhi Commis sion for Women (DCW) also issued a notice to the police in this con nection and demanded strict action against the accused.
The DCW said it re ceived a complaint from a woman who said her son was sexually as saulted by people who even inserted a rod in his private parts.
The police, however, said the probe so far has not revealed that a rod was inserted in the pri vate parts of the victim but a medical examina tion will ascertain it.
The victim and the accused are neighbours and belong to the same age-group of 10-12 years. They hail from
the same community, police said, adding that the incident took place on September 18.
The police received information from LNJP hospital on September 22 that a 10-year-old boy has been admitted after being physically as saulted, officials said.
Immediately, a police team reached the hospi tal and met the child's parents who, however, refused to give state ment. The child was un der medical observa tion, police said.
Although the investi gation officer regularly
contacted the family, the latter refused to give a statement till till Sat urday. The police then arranged a a counsellor from an organisation named 'Sakhi' and the child and his mother were counselled, a sen ior police officer said.
On extensive counsel ling, the victim's moth er disclosed that on Sep tember 18, her son was physically assaulted and sodomised by his three friends, the offic er said.
Based on her state ment, a case was regis tered under section 377
Chandigarh (Agen cies): The “last batch” of 55 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus landed in Delhi on Sunday evening, AAP MP Vikramjit Sin gh Sahney said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said the Ministry of Ex ternal Affairs had ear lier granted e-visas to this batch of Afghan minorities and their re patriation was facili tated by both Indian and Afghanistan gov ernments.
A special aircraft had been arranged by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Commit tee, Amritsar, to bring 38 adults and 17 chil dren, including three infants, Sahney had earlier said.
“With the grace of god, the last batch of 55 Sikhs and Hindu refu gees from #Afghanistan landed in New Delhi safely. Thanks to @ MEAIndia for issuing E visas & facilitating evacuation. We will re habilitate them under our programme #My FamilyMyResponsi bilty. Also Thanks to @
With the grace of god, the last batch of 55 Sikhs and Hindu refugees landed in New Delhi safely. Thanks to @MEAIn dia for issuing E visas & facilitating evacuation.
SGPCAmritsar,” Sah ney said in a tweet.
Earlier, in his state ment, Sahney had said, “We are in continuous touch with the Ministry of External Affairs for the evacuation of this last batch which is stranded there.”
“We have been coor dinating the repatria tion and rehabilitation of the Afghan refugees and will continue to support these families by providing them free
housing, giving them monthly household ex penses, providing them skills, medical insur ance and educating their youth,” said Sah ney, who is the chair man of the Sun Founda tion and also the presi dent of World Punjabi Organisation.
A congregation was held at the Arjun Nagar gurdwara in West Delhi in the evening to wel come the refugees, the AAP MP said.
(Unnatural offences) and 34 (common inten tion) of the Indian Pe nal Code and Protection Of Children Sexual Of fences Act, he added.
The victim is still un der medical observa tion, police said.
The Delhi Commis sion for Women (DCW) on Sunday issued a no tice to the police in con nection with the matter.
The DCW said it re ceived a complaint from a woman who said her son was sexually as saulted. She informed that on September 18, her child was sexually
assaulted by people who even inserted a rod in his private parts, said the panel.
However, police said investigation so far has not revealed that a rod was inserted in the pri vate parts of victim but the medical examina tion will ascertain it.
The woman claimed that the accused had also beaten up her son with bricks and rods. The child, who in formed his parents about the incident on September 22, is admit ted in ICU in hospital at present.
New Delhi (ANI): The Delhi Police, along with a team of Special Cell/ Northern Range, bust ed an interstate drug cartel by arresting its key member on Sunday.
The member has been identified as Jas vir Singh, 54, who hails from village Kokri Ka lan in Moga district of Punjab. According to the police, 45 kg of opi um worth more than Rs 30 crore in the interna tional market have been recovered from the pos session of the arrested accused person.
One truck, several mobile handsets and several SIM cards used in the drug trafficking activities have also been recovered.
According to DCP, Special Cell, Rajiv Ran jan Singh, "Special Cell in its continuous cru sade against drug sup pliers had busted many narcotic drug cartels in the past by arresting several drug suppliers and by recovering huge consignments of opium and heroin".
"Sleuths of the Spe cial Cell of Northern Range were working on information that an in
LONG JOURNEY BY TRUCKThe spot interrogation of accused Jasvir Singh confirmed that the recovered opium was de livered to him by a Lenmingthang resident of Manipur on the directions of Dilbag who is a resident of Bazpur, Uttrakhand. He further disclosed that Dilbag used to communicate with Lenmingthang via mobile phone and accordingly direct him to receive a supply of opium or heroin at various places in Assam and Manipur. He used to travel in his truck up to hilly areas of Manipur and Assam especially to procure opium from Len mingthang. The accused told the police that he hid the opium between rice packets to dodge the law enforcement agencies.
terstate narcotic drug cartel is active in the states of Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and NCR. Infor mation was received that members of this cartel are involved in the supply of opium in Delhi, NCR, UP, after procuring the same from suppliers of Ma nipur, who further col lect raw material from hilly areas around in ternational borders of Manipur and Myan mar," added the DCP.
"The information
was further developed through technical as well as human surveil lance. It took about 3 to 4 months to develop in formation. During this process, members of this cartel were identi fied and their activities kept under surveil lance. The trend re vealed during recent cases shows that the Golden Triangle Area (Lhasa, Thailand, and Myanmar) via North Eastern states has started showing its presence," Singh said.
New Delhi (PTI): Four men belonging to the Rajesh Bawana gang were arrested for alleg edly planning to kill members of rival Neeraj Bawana gang, police said on Sunday.
They have been iden tified as Abhishek (21), Himanshu (20), Nitin (20) and Abhilash (22), the police said, adding three semi-automatic pistols, one single-shot pistol and 20 live car tridges were seized
Rajesh Bawana in police custody.
from them. According to the police, the four wanted to kill their ri val gang members Ro
For the past some days, they were also trying to kill Rohit and Jackie, members of the rival Neeraj Bawana gang.
—Pramod Singh Kushwah, DCP (Special Cell)
Deputy Commission er of Police (Special Cell)
Pramod Singh Kushwah said, "The four accused were apprehended around 11 pm on Septem ber 20 from near a bus terminal in Azadpur." A car and a motorcycle, on which they have come, were seized, he added.
—FILE PHOTO
hit and Monti Sehrawat, who had allegedly mur dered their gang mem bers Abhishek and Chi
rag. They were also planning to eliminate a person residing in JJ Colony Wazirpur.
During interrogation, the four revealed that they were out to kill a person named Abid with whom Abhilash had per sonal enmity.
New Delhi (PTI): The government aims to de liver 10 lakh Ayushman Bharat cards everyday under its flagship health insurance scheme AB PM-JAY, Un ion Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Sunday while highlighting that 3.95 crore admissions amounting to Rs 45,294 crore have been done so far under it.
Nineteen crore bene ficiaries have Ayush man Bharat cards so
far, he said while inau gurating the Arogya Manthan 2022 to cele brate four years of im plementation of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) and one year of implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Digi tal Mission (ABDM).
“Earlier 1-1.5 lakh Ayushman cards were made daily, now 4-5 lakh are made daily, my tar get is to make 10 lakh cards everyday,” Man
daviya said. He said under the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, about Rs 100 crore will be spent in every district to strengthen the health infrastructure.
The minister on Sat urday said the Ayush man Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has crossed the landmark of one crore digitally linked health records with over 27 lakh re cords linked in a day.
New Delhi (ANI): To mark the double an niversaries of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) the National Health Authority organ ised a two-day physical event, Arogya Manthan, here on Sunday.
National Health Author ity CEO, Dr RS Sharma, also informed that
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya speaking at the programme on Sunday. Aarogya Setu is now being repurposed as In dia’s health application. “CoWIN portal is being repurposed for national immunisation program and as a health manage ment information system for small doctors,” Dr Sharma said. 2-DAY EVENT IN DELHITwo of the accused have been apprehended and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board
Victim and the accused are neighbours and belong to the same age-group of 10-12 yrs BOY IN ICU, DCW TEAM HELPING FAMILYDCW chairperson Swati Maliwal. —FILE PHOTO Dr M Srinivas, New Director of AIIMS-Delhi, addresses during the 67th Foundation Day of the institute, in New Delhi on Sunday. (R) Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar addresses at the Foundation Day function at AIIMS. PHOTOS BY ANI Vikramjit Singh Sahney speaking in Rajya Sabha. —FILE PHOTO —Vikramjit Singh Sahney, AAP Rajya Sabha MP
New Delhi (ANI): A raiding team of Delhi Police was allegedly as saulted on Saturday by bouncers of 'Da Code' club in South Exten sion Part-1, a week after a woman was allegedly molested by the bounc ers of the same club.
According to police, they received a PCR call complaining about loud music post per missible time. When the police officials tried to enter the 'Da Code' club, the bounc
ers tried to stop them. Hence, seven persons were detained and ac tion was taken against them under sections 107/151 of CrPC. On September 18, a woman made a PCR call com plaining that two bouncers and the man ager of 'Da Code' bar molested her and tore her clothes off. S
She further in formed that they mis behaved and hit her, and they had also touched her inappro
The victim was tak en to AIIMS trauma center and a case was registered against the culprits under sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) 354 A (Sexual har assment and punish ment for sexual Harass ment) 354 B, 509, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), police said.
The victim was ex amined in the case, and her statement was re corded Under 164 Criminal Procedure
Code (CRPC) before the Concerned Magistrate at Saket Court Com plex. She said that she had come to the club along with her friends for a party, where they had arguments over the entry and the bouncers became ag gressive and had beat en her and her friends, police said.
The CCTV cameras of the club and other neighbouring show rooms are being ana lyzed to reveal the
truth behind the above incident. Apart from that, the details of the bouncers had also been taken from the club and efforts are being made to arrest the real culprits, police said Till now, the alleged molesters are abscond ing. Earlier also, the owner, his son, and staff were chargesheeted in a case of the Excise Act in 2019 on the complaint of Excise Inspector Naveen Dutt.
Ahmedabad (PTI): Delhi CM Arvind Kejri wal on Sunday said if people of Gujarat bring the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to power, then every child in the state will prosper.
Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann ad dressed a gathering of youth in Ahmedabad where Kejriwal targeted both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress in Gujarat, where the As sembly elections are due in December this year.
“I was seeing a won derful message being shared in a Gujarat WhatsApp group that I follow. It says if you vote for Congress, then Sonia Gandhi's son will pros per. If you vote for BJP, Amit Shah's son will prosper, and if you vote
In less than six months, AAP is commit ted to providing 10 lakh jobs in Gujarat when it comes to power in the state.
for AAP, then every sin gle child of Gujarat will prosper,” Kejriwal said. Like the AAP govern ments provided 12 lakh jobs in Delhi and 20,000
—Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM
in Punjab in less than six months, the party is committed to provide 10 lakh jobs in Gujarat when it comes to power in the state, he said.
Kejriwal said, "Leaders of BJP and Congress have stolen so much of public money that if their properties are sold, the entire debt of Gujarat can be paid". “If AAP forms government, we will spend every single penny on citizens," he said. Kejriwal said if AAP comes to power, it will raise money by stopping corruption. AAP will stop the "loot" by leaders of parties, he said. "We will stop the loot and recover the money. Every single penny of Gujarat government will be spent on you,” Kejriwal told the gathering.
Recalling a group of youth shouting "Modi, Modi" when he came out of the airport in Vadodara recent ly, Kejriwal said he would not ask them to change their slogan. "I would like to tell you from this stage that I will never ask you to change your slogan, you are free to raise a slogan for him. But if we form a govern ment, we will give you a job and unem ployment allowance as well. Those people shouting slogans are also ours. The entire country is ours, the entire Gujarat is ours," he said.
New Delhi: With polls nearing, political ob servers and pollsters working on the ground say Kejriwal has man aged to turn the Gujarat elections into a BJP ver sus AAP narrative.
However, they have doubts if Kejriwal and the AAP would succeed in reaping electoral benefit out of this nar rative when the polls are held by the end of this year.
"An aggressive poll campaign of the AAP and the Congress's cold response so far has helped Kejriwal turn the Gujarat elections into BJP versus AAP narrative," a pollster collecting data for a sur vey agency told PTI, re questing anonymity.
He said the AAP is following the same "playbook" and deploy ing the same ecosys tem" the BJP does dur ing elections -- "picking up fights with rivals, launching counterat tacks and sending out the desired message to the voters through ag gressive poll cam paigns, spokespersons and social media" -- to build the narrative in its favour.
New Delhi (PTI): More than 6.62 lakh calls were made to the govern ment's COVID-19 hel pline number -- 1075 -with queries related to the disease while anoth er 7.55 lakh calls were related to Co-WIN regis tration and vaccination appointments between September 2021 and Au gust 15 this year, accord ing to official data.
The 24x7 toll-free na tional helpline number is run by the National Health Authority (NHA) on behalf of the Union
Health Ministry.
The helpline number is operated through a call centre service pro vider of the NHA since March 15, 2020.
From September 2021 to August 15 this year, 6.62 lakh calls were re ceived on the helpline with queries related to the disease, the NHA data showed.
The helpline was also used for helping citi zens with Co-WIN regis tration and vaccine ap pointment booking since December 2020.
Last month, the AAP appointed over 1,100 "so cial media warriors" to drive its poll campaign amid the fierce face-off with the BJP over a range of issues including the alleged corruption in the Delhi excise policy, which has now been withdrawn by city's AAP govern ment, and the alleged misuse of central probe agencies by the Modi dis pensation. Yashwant Deshmukh, the founder of the poll study agency C-Voter, said while Ke jriwal is "working hard" and his party is cam paigning "aggressively" in Gujarat, there is no clarity on the priority of the Congress as it is caught up in its 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.
"They are engaged in such a huge activity and skipping the most important state, Guja rat, where they are out of power for 27 years and elections are to be held in the next few months," he said.
—PTI
First India Bureau
New Delhi: In a bid to foster inclusivity and extend the ambit of art for all, National Gal lery of Modern Art (NGMA) is taking sev eral steps like holding special guided tours for the differentlyabled in sign language and publishing cata logue of select items in Braille for the visuallyimpaired.
The iconic gallery, an apex centre for exhibi
tion and promotion of art and sculpture, NGMA “has made great strides towards making the museum a democra tising space, one that
gives access to all in cluding to those who are differently-abled,” an official said.
It has initiated sev eral creative museum
practices with the idea of inclusivity.
“For the very first time, we have also pub lished a catalogue of select items in Braille
along with an audio guide app,” the official said.
As part of the Inter national Week of the Deaf, a guided tour of the exhibition of me mentos received by the prime minister was held in sign lan guage. This was fol lowed by recital of na tional anthem also in sign language, by Sai Swayam Society for differently-abled visi tors on September 23, the officialsaid.
priately. When a team led by Sub Inspector Deepak Yadav, reached the spot, the victim was found with her clothes torn.As part of Int’l Week of the Deaf a cultural extravaganza was organised that put the spotlight on the role of museums in uniting communitiesMembers of AAP women wing raise slogans during their protest against BJP over the killing of Ankita Bhandari, in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann attack BJP, Cong in Ahmedabad gathering
Delhi CM says both the parties looted public money, which AAP will recover for people of Gujarat
Pledges unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month to state’s youth till they get a jobArvind Kejriwal with Bhagwant Mann during an interaction session with youth in Ahmedabad on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
‘WILL STOP THE LOOT’
TO ‘MODI, MODI’ CHANTERSChief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visits Shree Dwarkadhish Temple, in Dwarka. —PHOTO BY ANI
‘AAP BUZZ IN SOME BIG CITIES ONLY’YProfessor Sanjay Kumar (L) & Yashwant Deshmukh
There is no science involved to realize that all the above skills that need to sky rocket the sales of a premier brand are acquirable and adaptable. The popular military saying of “The more you sweat in Peace…. The less you bleed in War” is equally applicable here. The Brand CEOs must realize on training their teams before they are introduced to a new arena with a new product
As a Corporate training expert and a strategist, I was called upon by many premium brands to establish and iden tify the choke points that pre vented the brand from being accepted far and wide by the customers. During the pro cess of my thorough audit of the entire marketing chain, I was surprised to realize that while the company had in vested a fortune in not only making a top-class product, it had also incorporated AI in selecting a colour scheme, logo and the SM platforms for promoting it. Needless to mention the swanky show room in an upmarket place.
During this analytical jour ney I observed that while near ly all organizations blamed the failure of their brand on almost everything from Grih, Nakshatra, the Gods, the un predictable markets and er ratic behavioural pattern of the customers, they failed in providing quality training to their sales executive.
As a subject expert, I thought it is time to share my insights for the benefit of all affected corporate houses. We have to remember that state of the art technology in manufacturing a product and
its public display at a costly high-end market may not be the end all and be all of the marketing. A customer may be drawn to show room but closing of deal may illude us.
Therefore, the people in volved in the chain of mar keting have to concur that ‘Closing a deal is a battle of Mind’. The analytic time that customers spend processing information about brand de serves close management scrutiny. In a nutshell, it de termines how much atten tion is devoted by customers to the brand. This playing field, like any other, has boundaries, barriers and rules. An understanding of how the game is played will allows building a competitive advantage in the market.
Only if we remember that the most important part of the product is the sales team and how they look, behave and are perceived by the buyers. It is a good idea to recall that custom ers need to buy your sales ex ecutive before they are willing to buy your product or service.
So, are there any set of skills that are needed in sales of a premier product? The short answer is YES and ob viously. In my opinion the skill set needs three specific attributes which are firstly, customer facing sales skills, secondly, core sales skills and finally the soft skills. If a cor porate is willing to establish a kinship in the three skill sets the product will for sure cast a niche in the market.
During this analytical journey I observed that while nearly all organizations blamed the failure of their brand on almost everything from Grih, Nakshatra, the Gods, the unpredictable markets and erratic behavioural pattern of the customers, they failed in providing quality training to their sales executive
While the customer facing skills include Storytelling, Problem-solving, Customer en gagement and Presentation skills the traits needed by the team in core selling are Prod uct knowledge, Negotiations, Customer success manage ment and the art of deal clos ing. Before undertaking launch of any premier product, it is desired to prepare sales teams with the above skills.
Now comes in the third and the most important as pect of the strategic selling of premium product and that is the soft skills. The top most is Active Listening which means the ability to hear and understand what the client says. When active listening is practised, speaker has plenty of time to share his/her thoughts and we get clues to
respond to the specific points a client wishes to know.
It is followed by Empathy and that is the ability to relate emotionally to another indi vidual. Empathic sales profes sionals can place themselves in the client’s position and develop personalised solu tions from their point of ref erence to solve unique issues.
Next in line of soft skills are a combination of two, as I would recommend, and these are Communication and Self-Motivation. A sea soned sales professional should communicate clearly with others both verbally and in writing. Choosing the most effective words and phrases for the conversation remains the key to wooing a customer.
On the other hand, every executive must be self-moti vated and diligent. This ca reer does present both ups and downs, but a sales profes sional should maintain a steady forward motion, work ing as hard after a big sale as they do after losing a client.
There is no science involved to realize that all the above skills that need to sky rocket the sales of a premier brand are acquirable and adaptable. The popular military saying of “The more you sweat in Peace…. The less you bleed in War” is equally applicable here. The Brand CEOs must realize on training their teams before they are introduced to a new arena with a new product.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONALPunjab Governor Banwari Lal Puro hit has relented after a week of wrangling over whether he could ask for de tails of the agenda which Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had decided for the proposed Assembly ses sion. Aam Aadmi Party ques tioned the governor’s powers to know the business of the House and pointed out that as per rules seeking governor’s nod was a mere formality. At this Purohit hit back and asked Mann to read the Con stitution. Mann had convened the Assembly session for a trust vote but the legal advice sought by the governor said that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha rules had no particular provi sion for summoning the House only for confidence mo tion. The controversy arose
Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit has relented after a week of wrangling over whether he could ask for details of the agenda which CM Bhagwant Singh Mann had decided for the proposed Assembly session. AAP questioned the governor’s powers to know the business of the House and pointed out that as per rules seeking governor’s nod was a mere formality
after the governor withdrew his permission for the session after allowing it earlier. What prompted Purohit’s change of heart is not yet clear. The wrangling once again brought the role of governors in opposition-ruled states. For
mer West Bengal governor had a running feud with Mamata Banerjee, Kerala governor’s regular spat with the state gov ernment has been much writ ten about. The Bengal and Kerala government’s tried to undermine the governor’s powers to appoint vice-chan cellors of state universities. The issue that gained greater attention was the alleged role of governors as agents of the BJP instead of acting as friend and guide of a government.
There’s nothing new about the tussle between state gov ernments and governors. Consequently, the governors have themselves tailored their roles in accordance with the requirements of respec tive Central governments. The strait-jacket definition laid down in the Constitution has been variously interpret ed leading to friction.
Opposition unity ef forts took a step for ward with a pro posed mega show of strength at the Indi an Lok Dal’s Devi Lal Samman rally in Haryana. Ironically, led by Om Prakash Chautala, the INLD is fighting for its own sur vival having just one legislator in the state Assembly. Neverthe less, several top opposition lead ers including Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Sitaram Yechury, Tejashj wi Yadav attended the rally. Om Prakash Chautala is said to have sent invitations to Mamata Ba nerjee, K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Chandrababu Naidu. The only notable absentee was the Congress but with Nitish Ku mar and Lalu Prasad Yadav ex pected to call on Sonia Gandhi, who is caught up with her par ty’s first presidential election in decades, it may join forces. In what could be the founda tion-laying event for a loosely cohesive third front, it assumes some political significance be fore the 2024 Lok Sabha elec tions. However, managing the disparate groups and their po litical ideologies will be a chal lenge for Nitish Kumar.
Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer badness with goodness. Conquer meanness with generosity. Conquer dishonesty with truth. Buddha
Warmest greetings for Rosh Hashanah to my friend @yairlapid, Israel’s friendly people and the Jewish community all over the world. May the new year bring good health, peace and prosperity to everyone. Shana Tova!
Amit Shah @AmitShah
l Vol 2 l Issue No.28
l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Impressions Printing and Packaging Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59, Noida-201301. Published at G-20, 3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK Narendra Modi @narendramodi Shubho Mahalaya! Greetings to all Bengali sisters and brothers on the auspicious occasion of Mahalaya. May the divine blessings of Maa Durga fill everyone’s life with good health, happiness and prosperity.COL ANUPAM JAITLY (RETD) The writer is Defence expert, Motivational Speaker & Corporate Trainer
Fatehabad (Agen cies): Several senior Opposition leaders, in cluding NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, CPI(M) Sitaram Yechury, and Shiroma ni Akali Dal (SAD) pres ident Sukhbir Singh Badal, gathered at Fate habad, Haryana, on Sunday for the INLD’s major rally.
The event commemo rates the 109th birthday of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, but it is also consid ered to be an attempt by Indian National Lok Dal chief to unite the Opposition against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll.
Recalling his time spent with political vet eran Devi Lal, Nitish Kumar said, “I can nev er forget those days when I was young and Devi Lal guided and in spired me.”
Nitish Kumar urged the Opposition parties to unite, saying, “If all these parties come to gether, they (BJP) will not be able to win at all in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.” He went on to say that he talked at
length with Sharad Pa warand asked the Con gress to join them.
“I would like to seek blessings of Om Prakash Chautala and urge him that he should do get more opposition parties together,” Ku mar said, while adding that there is no fight be tween Hindus and Mus lims, it is the BJP which want wants to create disturbances. JDU lead er KC Tyagi addressed the audience, saying the Bihar CM has come from Patna to fight the Sultanate of Delhi.
Kottayam (Agen cies): BJP national president JP Nadda on Sunday hit out at the CPI(M) govern ment in Kerala for the alleged rise in fringe elements and ram pant corruption in the state, claiming that the heat of the “gold scam” has even reached CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s office.
Nadda is on a twoday visit to Kerala from Sunday as he continues with his travel to different re gions of the country as part of the party’s organisational pro grammes and politi cal outreach.
Addressing BJP workers, Nadda said, “The present CPI(M) government in the state is trying to cre ate a situation where the government will be in a debt trap; debt almost doubled now.
Even the CM’s office is not out of the frame of corruption. The heat of the gold scam has even reached the CM’s office.”
The smuggling case came to light in July 2020 after 30 kgs of gold, hidden in a package camouflaged as a diplomatic consignment ad dressed to the UAE consulate in Kerala, was seized by the cus toms department.
Scenes from the INLD’s ‘Samman Diwas’ rally on 109th birth anniversary of former deputy PM Devi Lal, in Fatehabad, Haryana, on Sunday. A galaxy of Opposition leaders, among them NCP’s Sharad Pawar, SAD’s Sukhbir Singh Badal, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, INLD’s OP Chautala, JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav hogged the limelight. —PHOTOS BY PTI
Thrissur (PTI): Con gress leader Rahul Gan dhi on Sunday resumed the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Thiroor in the dis trict accompanied by hundreds of party work ers holding banners and placards against the high cooking gas prices in the country.
The morning session of the 150-day-long yatra covered a distance of around 11 kilometres before concluding at Wadakkanchery.
Senior leaders in cluding, K Muraleed haran, KC Venugopal, Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of Opposition, VD Satheesan and MPs among others joined Gandhi in his walk.
The Congress work ers were carrying plac ards in the shape of LPG cylinders highlighting steep cooking gas prices in the country.
Earlier on Saturday, the Congress had re sumed its Bharat Jodo Yatra, after a day's break, from Perambra junction in the Thris sur district of Kerala.
New Delhi (ANI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will file a nomination for the post of party President on September 30, according to the sourc es. Tharoor had said that he will be approaching delegates from various states as he has taken 5 sets of nomination papers, for which he'll need 50 delegates as proposers for his candidature. This will be the first time in 25 years that Congress will see a non-Gandhi chief after Sonia Gandhi defeated Jitendra Prasad in 1998. The last time the party had a non-Gandhi chief was in 1996 when Sitaram Kesri defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot.
Thrissur (ANI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi went to Nilambpur in Mal lapuram on Sunday to pay his last respects to senior party leader Aryadan Muhammed (87) who passed away earlier on Sunday. Rahul Gandhi said that his death is a great loss to the party as he was a pillar of the Congress party. “He was a pillar of the Congress party... it is a tragedy for us,” Gandhi said. Muhammed, who was an eight-time MLA and represented the Nilambur constituency, was undergoing treat ment at a private hospital in Kozhikode and died in the morning. The veteran leader had entered poli tics as a member of the Congress party in 1952 and remained the part of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee till 1958.
Bengaluru: Six Indian Air Force officials were booked for murder after suspicious death of a trainee cadet. The deceased youth, identified as 27-year-old Ankit Kumar Jha, was training at the AFTC in Jalahalli campus for one and half years, according to police. He had allegedly committed suicide by hanging after being discharged from service following a court of inquiry.
New Delhi: In a bizarre inci dent, guests at a wedding in UP’s Amroha were asked to show their Aadhaar cards be fore dinner. The incident took place in Hasanpur where two sisters were getting married at the same venue. Their family began panicking when they saw a huge turnout of guests, many of whom strangers, and then they asked the guests to show their Aadhaar cards.
Mumbai: A day after ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were allegedly raised during a Popular Front of India (PFI) protest in Pune, Shiv Sena leader and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray attacked the state government and said there is a major law and order failure in Maharashtra. “The government must come down swiftly and hard on those who indulged in pro-Pak slogans,” Thackeray said.
New Delhi: A house in Bandipora was attached by J&K Police on Sunday over wilfully providing shelter to militants. The police said, “The residential house of one person, namely Bashir Ahmad Mir, son of Abdul Sattar Mir of Wanpora Gurez at present Watrina Bandip ora, was attached after ob taining legal sanction from the competent authorities.”
Aizawl: Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has said that India should negotiate with military authorities in trouble-torn Myanmar and various eth nic groups there to restore peace in the neighbouring country. “We have received requests from some quar ters of Myanmar that India should broker peace in the country,” he told reporters.
Kolkata (Agencies):
West Bengal Chief Min ister Mamata Banerjee began the Durga Puja festivities on Mahalaya by debuting as a singer in her latest album of special songs, titled ‘Ut saver Gaan’, released on Sunday.
She has not just sung a song ‘Dhak dumad um’, along with singerturned-politician Indra nil Sen and Aditi Mun shi, but has also written the lyrics of all the songs and composed the
music of the album.
The album compris es of eight Puja-spe cial songs sung by the likes of Jit Ganguly, Sriradha and Mono moy, besides her Tri namool Congress par ty MLAs Babul Supri yo and Indranil.
Meanwhile Supriyo released a separate Puja-special album ‘Jai Ma Durga’, dedi cating it to Banerjee on Mahalaya, which marks the beginning of the 10-day festival.
This year, the festival is more special as it was been inscribed on Unesco’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Album apart, Baner jee, otherwise also have been busy since Thurs day as this year’s festi val got a soft launch
three days before Maha laya with the chief min ister inaugurating three Durga Pujas in north Kolkata - Tala Park Prattoy, Sreebhu mi Sporting Club in Lake Town and FD Block Durga Puja in Salt Lake. From Maha laya, September 25, the chief minister - who has been flooded with invitations from several hundred puja organis ers - will go on a puja inauguration spree over the next week.
AADITYA THACKERAY ATTACKS SHINDE GOVT OVER PRO-PAKISTAN SLOGANS JP Nadda with Kerala BJP President K Surendran, party MP Prakash Javadekar and others pays tribute to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI New Delhi: The BJP will hold a meeting of state in-charges on Sep 27. BJP national general secretary (Organization) BL Santosh will pre side over this meeting. BJP chief Nadda might also attend the meeting. Before this meeting, all the in-charges are also visiting the respective states under their charge. For strengthening the party in states, meetings are being held and the central leadership are visiting different states. BJP STATE IN-CHARGES MEETING TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY BJP OFFICE IN NE Mamata Banerjee lights lamp during the inauguration of a Puja pandal for upcoming Durga Puja festival, in Kolkata on Sunday. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Deependra Singh Hooda. BHARAT JODO YATRA Shashi TharoorNew York (PTI): India matters more in the current polarised world and is perceived widely as the voice of the glob al South, External Af fairs Minister S Jais hankar has said, assert ing that New Delhi al ways speaks for many developing nations and highlights their press ing problems at inter national forums.
Jaishankar wrapped up the New York leg of his visit to the US as he addressed the high-lev el UN General Assem bly session on Saturday, concluding a hectic week of whirlwind dip lomatic engagements during which he met over 100 of his counter parts from around the world and held several bilateral and multilat eral meetings.
“There’s no question this UNGA reflects the state of the world, which is particularly polarised at this mo ment.”
What the state of the world actually reveals in a way is that India matters more. We are a bridge, we are a voice,
New York (ANI): Expressing gratitude towards India for vaccine assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamaica Foreign Minister Kamina J Smith and Guyana Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd hailed India in the UNGA. “From the very onset, India was a reliable partner whose assistance was critical to our pandemic response. India embraced a holistic and outward-looking vaccine diplomacy strategy. Jamaica was able to secure its first life-saving vaccines from India,” Smith said ad dressing the UNGA session.
United Nations (PTI): In a strong message on terrorism, External Af fairs Minister S Jais hankar said that no rhetoric, however, sanc timonious, can ever cover-up blood stains and asserted that na tions who defend pro claimed terrorists in the United Nations neither advance their own inter ests nor their reputa tion, a signal to China and Pakistan.
“While others chose to withhold supplies, India’s vaccine outreach exempli fied its principles of equality and mutual benefit. We are deeply grateful to the Government, the people of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar,” she added.
“Small countries like Guyana would have benefit ted immensely from India’s growth trajectory as it has always been an economy that focuses on human de velopment, putting humans ahead of any other form of development,” Todd said.
Chennai (PTI): The world is looking at In dia as an inspirational place with what the country has achieved in the space sector in the last 60 years, chair man of Indian Space Research Organisation S Somanath said on Sunday.
Somanath said he was witnessing a great transformation in the sector by bringing in startups, incubating them in space technol ogy and bringing great
applications to develop rockets and satellites.
“The whole world is looking at India as an inspirational place and it is wonderful to see what is happening in
India, especially in the space sector, with the startup eco system,” he said at the 18th convoca tion of the SRM Insti tute of Science and Technology at Kat
New Delhi (PTI): Pres ident Droupadi Murmu will visit Karnataka from September 26 to 28 to attend a host of pro grammes, according to a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.
This will be her first visit to any state as the President of India, it said.
She will inaugurate the Dasara festival at Chamundi Hills in Mys
uru on Monday. On the same day, the president will attend a felicitation function, ‘Poura Sanmana’, or ganised by the Hubli-
Dharwad Municipal Corporation in Hubli, the statement said.
She will also inaugu rate the new campus of the Indian Institute of Information Tech nology in Dharwad, it added.
The president will in augurate the Integrated Cryogenic Engines Manufacturing Facility of Hindustan Aero nautics Limited in Ben galuru on Tuesday.
tankulathur near here. Somanath, who also received the honorary degree of Doctorate of Science (honoris causa) in recognition of his contribution to the field of science, said, “We al ways believed (others) but others never be lieved we can do such things — building rock ets and satellites in this country ourselves — be sides having a large per centage of our own con tribution (of satellites) to build them.”
In his address to the high-level UN General Assembly session here, Jaishankar said those who politicise the UNSC 1267 Sanctions regime, sometimes even to the extent of defending pro claimed terrorists, do so at their own peril. “Hav ing borne the brunt of cross border terrorism for decades, India firmly advocates a ‘zero- toler ance’ approach. In our view, there is no justifi cation for any act of ter rorism,” he said.
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) (ANI): Nineteen per sons who vandalised properties during the protest against the NIA’s raids on houses of the PFI leaders are arrested and sent to remand, in formed the Tamil Nadu Director General of Po lice C Sylendrababu on Sunday.
“Nineteen persons who vandalised proper ties are arrested and sent to remand. Few from specific organiza tions hurled petrol bombs on a few organi zation functionaries’ residences and cars,” Tamil Nadu DGP told ANI.“Those who involve in criminal acts which disturb public peace will be booked under the National Security Act,” warned Tamil Nadu
Madurai (ANI): As many as three petrol bombs were hurled into the house of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member in the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu. The incident was captured in the CCTV foot age which as per the times tamp took place around 7:38 pm on Saturday at Mel Anuppanadi housing board area in Madurai at the residence of MS Krishnan.
The CCTV footage shows bike-borne men were seen approaching the house and hurling petrol bombs before the duo sped away.
Police are probing the incident. “Three petrol bombs were thrown at RSS member house and we are investigating in this regard. No one was injured and damaged in the accident,” Shanmugam Madurai South’s Assistant Commis sioner said. In this regard, RSS member Krishnan and BJP Madurai district president Suseendran filed a petition to the Keerathurai police. After receiving his petitions, the police assured to arrest the accused soon.
DGP. “Criminal cases have been registered on this and investigations to nab the anti-social el ements are going on.
Lucknow: Commis sioner of Meerut and CEO of Greater Noida Authority IAS Surendra Singh has been sent to the AGMUT cadre for three years by the centre government. IAS Suren dra Singh, a 2005 batch officer, has been the col lector of 10 districts in
Uttar Pradesh. The bu reaucrat came into the limelight after he did
exemplary work in the parliamentary constitu ency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As Dis trict Magistrate of Vara nasi, he was praised by the state government as well as by the union gov ernment. Later, Suren dra Singh became spe cial secretary to Chief Minister Yogi Adity anath, followed by other
lll
Hema Malini recently took a jibe at Kangana Ranaut, where she dragged in Rakhi Sawant.
Now, Rakhi has responded to Hema’s statement
New Delhi (ANI): Re sponding to actorturned-politician Hema Malini’s statement the previous day that even Rakhi Sawant can be come (a poll candidate), Sawant said apparently in a mock serious way that she would contest the 2024 elections and thanked the Lok Sabha MP from Mathura for saying this.
Rakhi Sawant thanked Hema Malini and PM Narendra Modi for this.
“I would like to thank Prime Minister Naren dra Modi Ji for putting the great responsibility on my shoulders and considering me worthy
of this. Thank you for giving me the opportu nity of contesting the election as Hema Malini Ji has already announced,” Rakhi Sawant said.
She also said that if PM Modi can become PM by making tea, she too can become the Chief Minister.
“As far as I am con cerned, I have been serving society from childhood itself. I was born to serve the coun try only and I want to
serve it. When our Prime Minister can be come the PM by making tea, then why can’t I be a CM after working in Bollywood? Definitely, I will and I need the best wishes of you all,” Sawant said.
The Bollywood actor, however, said it would be a “surprise” against whom she would be con testing. “So, I will be contesting the 2024 elec tions, but against whom it will be a surprise,” Sawant said.
important postings.
Sources in the bu reaucracy believe that his transfer to the AG MUT cadre is a planned decision of the govern ment. IAS officer Suren dra Singh is likely to be given a bigger responsi bility in Delhi or some north-eastern state. An order was issued by DoPT in this regard.
Special teams have been formed to nab them. So far, 250 suspects have been investigated on this matter,” he added.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday transferred four IAS and four PCS officers. The UP govern ment has appointed Ravindra Kumar as Special Secretary in the Excise Department, while IAS Pawan Ku mar will take over the responsibility of Spe cial Secretary in the Public Works Depart ment.
Similarly, IAS Dhirendra Singh Sachan has been sent to Health Welfare and Family Welfare Depart ment as special secre tary and IAS Ashutosh Kumar Dwivedi has now been given the re sponsibility of Special Secretary in the Public Works Department.
Likewise, IAS Amit Ku mar Prasad has been transferred to ACS, de partment of Khadi, vil lage industries and MSME.
Nagpur: Activist-law yer Prashant Bhushan on Sunday said the fair ness of the Election Commission of India (ECI) has come under cloud in the last few years. He accused the ECI of keeping mum when big leaders from the ruling party violate the poll code, while act ing swiftly against oppo sition parties in such cases. He was speaking on the topic ‘Challenges before Democracy’ dur ing a programme organ ised here by ‘Deshon
nati’, a Marathi daily.
“After TN Seshan be came the chief election commissioner, for many years we could see that the Election Commis sion was fair. But in the last six to seven years, a big question mark has arisen,” he said.
“WILL FIGHT ELECTIONS IN 2024...”
‘we are a viewpoint, a channel,” Jaishankar told a group of Indian reporters here as he highlighted some of the big takeaways of his week-long visit to the UN and the city. He headed to Wash ington DC on Sunday for the second leg of his US visit.
Jaishankar says it’s not usual that many countries referred to India at UNGAExternal Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in a meeting with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, in USA. —PHOTO BY PTI One-day state-wide strike by PFI leaders in Tamil Nadu on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI 3 PETROL BOMBS THROWN AT HOUSE OF RSS MEMBER IN TAMIL NADU In a video Rakhi Sawant reacts to Hema Malini’s remarks. ‘Pindi daani’ gather to perform rituals for their ancestors on the last day of ‘Pitra Paksha Mela’, on Gaya on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI ISRO chief S Somanath President Droupadi Murmu IAS Surendra Singh
New Delhi: The combined market valuation of seven of the 10 most valued firms eroded by `1,34,139.14 crore last week, with Reliance In dustries taking the big gest hit. Barring Hindu stan Unilever Limited, Bajaj Finance and ITC, others in the top-10 club suffered erosion in their market valuation. The val uation of Reliance tum bled by `40,558.31 crore to reach `16,50,307.10 crore. But despite that it retained its top spot in the list of the most valued
New Delhi (PTI): The In dian rupee sliding to a his toric low of 81.09 to a dollar will make import of crude oil and other commodities expensive further fueling inflation which for the past several months has re mained above the Reserve Bank’s upper tolerance level of 6%.
The pressure on the do mestic currency, which is mainly due to repeated hikes in interest rate by the US Fed, is likely to con tinue with rise in trade deficit and gradual with drawal of funds by institu tional investors.
The Reserve Bank, which is scheduled to an nounce its bi-monthly monetary policy later this week, is expected to in
crease the repo-rate or the short-term lending rates by 50 basis points in a bid to tame inflationary pressure.
For a nation that is 85% dependent on imports to
meet its oil needs and 50% for gas requirements, a weakening rupee has a bearing on domestic price of fuel. “A depreciating INR will partly counteract
New Delhi: After infusing more than `51,000 crore last month, foreign inves tors have slowed down the pace of equity buying in India in September so far, as they invested a lit tle over `8,600 crore, on sharp depreciation in ru pee. Going forward, FPIs are unlikely to buy ag gressively amid rising dollar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Finan cial Services, said. Ac cording to the data, FPIs have bought equity to the tune of `8,638 crore during Sept 1-23.
—PTI
New Delhi (PTI): With economic activity still to reach pre-pandemic levels, the RBI may slow down the pace of rate hikes until next year to quell soaring inflation while supporting growth, the Asian Develop ment Bank (ADB) says in its latest report.
The multilateral funding agency has raised the infla tion forecast for the cur rent fiscal year ending in March 2023 to 6.7% from its earlier projection of 5.8%.
For the next fiscal year too, the forecast has been revised upwards to 5.8% from 5% earlier.
Inflation will remain el evated this year and the next, ADB said in an up date to its flagship Asian
Development Outlook (ADO) 2022 report.
“This Update forecasts the inflation rate averaging 6.7% in FY2022 (fiscal end ing in March 2023) before moderating to 5.8% in FY2023 (ending in March 2024), just below the central bank target range of 2 –6%,” it said.
Both forecasts are high
z The agency has raised the inflation forecast for the current fiscal to 6.7% from its earlier projection of 5.8%.
For the next fiscal year too, the forecast has been revised upwards to 5.8% from 5%
er than ADO 2022’s projections.
Even though supply pressures are expected to ease in the current fiscal year, upward pressure on inflation could continue because of demand-side pressures caused by in creasing economic activi ty, according to the ADB report.
the benefit of lower com modity prices on infla tion,” said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA.
Solvent Extractors’ Asso ciation of India Executive
Pune (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said representatives of the lo cal cooperative sector were “extremely happy” with various steps taken by the Centre for their benefit.
She said, “I had a meet ing with representatives of different cooperative institutions such as banks and sugar (mills) and they are extremely happy and there were claps after claps for various steps being taken such as relief to be given to them, taxation concession that was extended, waiving of the long pending arrears of one of the cooperatives. They all were appreciated.”
New Delhi: With increase in digital access and growing awareness about mutual funds, asset man agement companies (AMCs) have added close to 70 lakh investor ac counts in the first five months of the current fis cal, bringing the total to 13.65 cr. This came fol lowing an addition of 3.17 cr investor accounts in 2021-22 and 81 lakh ac counts. The sharp in crease in MF folio count implies that a lot of new investors are coming into the capital markets and are embracing MFs as their preferred vehicle for investing.
—PTI
New Delhi: As many as 393 infrastructure pro jects, each entailing an in vestment of `150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than `4.65 lakh crore, as per a report. “Total origi nal cost of implementa tion of the 1526 projects was `21,26,460.93 crore and their anticipated com pletion cost is likely to be `25,91,823.45 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of `4,65,362.52 crore,” the ministry’s lat est report said. `4.65
London (PTI): The free trade agreement (FTA) talks between India and the UK are now in their final phase and despite some outstanding issues to be re solved, there is optimism on both sides that the Di wali deadline for a draft will be met, according to the Lord Mayor of London.
“It was a really good time to be in India with the FTA negotiations entering into their final phase,” Vincent Keaveny, the 693rd Lord Mayor said.
“PM Modi has made it clear that he wants to sign the FTA by Diwali. There are some outstanding is
z Vincent Keaveny has just returned from a four-day visit to India following meetings with leading Indian businesses and investors and finance chiefs at the Reserve Bank of India and SEBI
New Delhi (PTI): The do mestic stock market may face volatility amid the monthly derivatives expiry scheduled this week, while investors would mainly await the outcome of RBI’s interest rate decision on Friday, said analysts.
Global market move ment would also continue to drive sentiment amid a bearish trend recently fol lowing rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks.
The RBI may take cues from its global counter parts to raise interest rate for the fourth time in a row
to control inflation.
Vinod Nair, Head of Re search at Geojit Financial Services, said for the week ahead, investors will keen ly watch the outcome of the RBI monetary policy on September 30.
“We expect the market direction will be led by global developments and FIIs’ action,” Nair added.
z Lord Mayor’s visit was aimed at strengthening IndiaUK financial services links, building strong and sustainable two-way capital flows
z His visit comes amid reports that Modi may be planning a visit to the UK to sign the FTA around Diwali
sues to be resolved but I think there’s a lot of opti mism on both sides that we will get that done. Whatev er the content of the agree ment, it will be a real posi tive for the relationship between India and the UK across the board in the coming years,” he said.
His visit comes amid re ports that Modi may be planning a visit to the UK to sign the FTA around Diwali, which falls on October 24.
Asked about the pros pect, the Lord Mayor ex pressed optimism: “It is a tight deadline but there is optimism.
z The pressure on the domestic currency, which is mainly due to repeated hikes in interest rate by the US Fed, is likely to continue with rise in trade deficit and gradual withdrawal of funds by institutional investors
z The RBI, which is scheduled to announce its bi-monthly monetary policy later this week, is expected to increase the repo-rate or the shortterm lending rates by 50 bps
Director B V Mehta said the cost of imported edible oils will go up. The country im ports about 13 million tonnes of edible oils every year. “Ultimately, this will
be passed on to consumers. However, the only silver lin ing is India’s oilseed sector exports...The rupee depre ciation will boost export realisation and support export,” he said.
Imports of vegetable oils stood at $1.89 billion in Au gust 2022, up 41.55% over the same month last year. As per the SBI report, no central bank can prevent currency depreciation cur rently and RBI may allow the rupee to depreciate for a limited period. Foreign currency assets of RBI have declined by $75 billion since Ukraine War, in order to protect the rupee, it said and added that this has led to reduced import cover of nine months, which is at the lower end.
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may take cues from its global counterparts, including the US Federal Reserve, to raise interest rate for the fourth time in a row on Friday to tame stubborn inflation. The RBI Governor-headed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to start its three-day deliberations on Wednes day. The decision of the rate-setting panel would be announced on Friday (September 30). The US Fed delivered third consecutive rate hike after it raised the rates by 75 bps to take the target range to 3 - 3.25%. The central banks of the UK and the EU have also gone for rate hikes to tame inflation.
New Delhi: Prices of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and is converted into CNG to run auto mobiles, is likely to rise to record levels at the rate review scheduled this week, sources said. The government-dictated price for natural gas produced in the country is to be revised on October 1. After factoring in the spike in energy prices witnessed in recent months, the rate paid for gas produced from old fields such as of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is likely to rise to $9 per million British thermal units from cur rent $6.1.
—PTI
—PTI
New Delhi: An engineering sector’s body of MSMEs has demanded from the govern ment to announce a production linked incen tive scheme (PLI) for the industry to boost domestic manufactur ing, exports and job creation. In a communication to the commerce ministry, Ludhianabased Hand Tools Association said that the sector provides employment to 7.25 workers for every `1-crore sale per year on an average as com pared to the job creation ratio of 4.75 in bicycle industry and 5-6 in textiles. Exports of hand tools industry is about `3,200 crore annually. —PTI
New Delhi: Piramal Group and Zurich Insurance plan to form a joint venture for taking over Reliance General Insurance, a subsidiary of debt-ridden Reliance Capital undergoing a resolution process. Both Piramal and Zurich, which had submitted separate non-binding bids for the general insurance busi ness of Reliance Capital in August, may hold 50% each in the proposed special purpose vehicle (SPV), sources said.
Piramal had valued Reliance Capital’s general insurance business at `3,600 crore, while Zurich had quoted `3,700 crore for the same. As per the actuarial valuation, sources said, Reliance General Insurance is valued at `9,450 crore.
—PTI
New Delhi (PTI): India is unlikely to see a repeat of the 2021 energy crisis this festive season as coal-fired power stations across the country have comfortable levels of the fuel stock to meet electricity demand of the world’s fastest expand ing major economy.
Learning lessons from the October 2021 energy cri sis, when power stations were put on outage alert, due to coal stocks falling to the lowest level in years, the ministries of coal and pow er as well as railways this year have worked out a plan to ensure adequate fuel
stocks at electricity gener ating units, officials said.
With coal used to pro duce almost 70% of elec tricity, officials are confi dent that the 2021 crisis will not be repeated this
z Learning lessons from the October 2021 energy crisis, the ministries of coal and power as well as railways this year have worked out a plan to ensure adequate fuel stocks at electricity generating units
festive season that kicks in a week’s time. Electricity demand in India has soared with a rebound in indus trial activity after easing of pandemic-related curbs. And the increased light
ning needs during the fes tive season is likely to send the demand shooting. Acc to a coal ministry of ficial, the coal stocks at power plants are at “com fortable” level as of now.
FPIs PUMP IN 8,600 CRORE RUPEES IN SEPTEMBER SO FAR
New York: External Affairs Minister S Jais hankar has said that he had a wide-ranging con versation with his Rus sian counterpart Ser gey Lavrov during which they discussed a number of issues, in cluding bilateral coop eration, the Ukraine conflict, G20 and UN reforms as he described Russia a “major part ner in many domains.”
Jaishankar made the remarks during his in teraction with a group of Indian reporters af ter his meeting with Lavrov on the margins of the UN General As sembly session, just hours before his ad dress to the UN General Debate on Saturday.
“We discussed a num ber of issues. Some part of my meeting was fo cused on our bilateral cooperation because Russia is a major part ner in many domains,” Jaishankar said while responding to a ques tion by PTI on his meet ing with Lavrov.
To another question, he said while “obvious ly” there are big issues, which focus both the Russians and the rest of
In his address to the UN General Assembly just an hour before Jaishankar’s speech, the Russian foreign minister voiced Moscow’s support for India and Brazil as worthy candi dates for permanent membership in the UN Security Council, calling them key international actors.
Jaishankar said that his Russian counterpart “explicitly” men tioned India from the General Assembly podium, and a number of countries also referred to India in their statements.
Jaishankar added that it is not usual in a Gen Assembly for presi dents, PMs or foreign ministers of a country to refer to another country. “We’ve got some tailwind behind us. Now we have to see what we can make of it,” he said.
z In response to a question on his meeting with Ukraine’s PM Denys Shmyhal this week on the UNGA margins and what were the concerns articulated by the leader, Jaishankar said “a big con cern was the conflict itself. He gave me his perception, his assessment of what was happening in Ukraine”.
z “In terms of India, we had a discussion on what was our position and my sense is that he clearly appreciated the fact that we were against the continuation of the conflict and for the return for dialogue and diplomacy, Jaishankar said.
New York leg of his visit to the US.
He said there was also a discussion on the G-20, with India begin ning the G-20 presiden cy this December. “Rus sia is very much at the centre of debate where G-20 is concerned. And finally, we spoke about the UN reform.”
the world, the relation ship has to address its own requirements, pro cesses and objectives.
“We spend some time on the bilateral side, where things are, taking
stock,” he said, adding that they also spoke in “some detail” about is sues related to Ukraine.
“A lot of it was he briefed me about various devel opments from the Rus
New Delhi: As part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the central government on Sunday, senior bureau crat Rajendra Kumar was made the Director General of Employees’ State Insurance Corpo ration (ESIC), as per the order issued by the Per sonnel Ministry.
The order also said, T Natarajan, a 1996 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, will take over as Additional Secretary in the Department of Eco nomic Affairs, Minis try of Finance.
Kumar, a 1992-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, is currently an addi tional secretary in the Ministry of Elec tronics & Information Technology.
Others moved Apart from this, V Hek ali Zhimomi has been appointed as additional secretary in the Depart ment of Health and Family Welfare. She is at present working as a joint secretary in the same department.
Also, Ashish Srivas tava, Additional Secre tary and Financial Ad viser in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, has been named as an adviser in the Inter State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Jaideep Kumar Mishra, who is cur
Kumar, a 1992-batch IAS officer, is currently an additional secy in the Ministry of Electronics and IT
rently an additional secretary in the Minis try of Electronics & Information Technol ogy, will now be the ad ditional secretary and financial adviser to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, re placing Srivastava.
Nitishwar Kumar has been appointed as additional secretary and financial adviser in the Ministry of Women and Child De velopment, by tempo rarily upgrading a va cant post of joint secre tary and financial ad viser in the ministry, the order said.
sian perspective. I also shared with him what I picked up from some of the others. So that was a back and forth conversa tion,” Jaishankar said as he wrapped up the
The meeting in New York is the fourth be tween Jaishankar and Lavrov this year, in cluding on the side lines of the G-20 for eign ministers’ con clave in Indonesia in Bali and when Lavrov was in New Delhi ear lier this year. —PTI
New Delhi: In the Bilkis Bano gangrape case, one of the con victs has challenged the maintainability of peti tions in the Supreme Court against his and fellow convicts’ remis sion of sentence.
Petitions have been filed against the remis sion in the SC, follow ing which Radhey Shy am, who was recently released by the Gujarat government on remis sion, has questioned the locus standi of the petitioners, saying they are “complete stran gers” in the matter.
Shyam said that none of the petitioners are related to the case and are either political ac tivists or “third party stranger”. Questioning the maintainability of the petitions, he said if such petitions are enter tained by the court, it would be an open invita tion for any member of the public to “jump in any criminal matter be fore any court of law”.
“That at the very out set the answering re spondent seriously questions the locus as well as maintainability of the instant writ peti tion which has been filed by a political activ
z The affidavit said that neither the State nor the victim nor even the complainant has approached this Court and thus, if such cases are sought to be entertained by this court, “a settled position of law would certainly become an unsettled position of law”.
ist or in other words, a complete stranger to the instant case,” he said.
Shyam pointed out that the in the PIL ques tioning his release peti tioner number one, CPI(M) leader Subhashi ni Ali, claims to be a for mer parliamentarian and Vice President of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, Petitioner no 2, Revati Laul, claims to be an in dependent journalist, whereas petitioner no 3, Roop Rekha Verma,
claims to be a former Vice Chancellor, Luc know University.
The affidavit said, “That with great respect & humility, the answer ing respondent submits that if such types of third party petitions are entertained by this court, it would not only unsettle the settled posi tion of law but would open flood gates & would be an open invitation for the public to jump in any criminal matter be fore any court of law”.
First India Bureau
Jammu: Weeks after breaking the five-dec ade-long association with the Congress last month, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is likely to launch his party in the next couple of days.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Centre extended the term of Ajay Kumar Singh as Press Secretary to the President for 2 more years till September 25, 2024, a Personnel Min istry order said on Sat
"I am inviting the me dia tomorrow (Monday) before the launch of the party. I am here to meet workers and leaders," Azad said on Sunday during an interaction with media persons at his residence here.
Srinagar on September 27. He has earlier spelt out that the top agendas of his party will be to restore J&K's statehood and protect the land and job rights of its residents.
urday. Along with this, the Centre has also ap proved the proposal of the appointment of IAS officer Rakesh Gupta as Joint Secretary in the President’s Secretariat.
The Appointments Com mittee of the Cabinet has approved extension in Singh’s term as the Press Secretary to the President, on contract basis, for a further term of two years with effect from September 26, 2022.
Singh was given a two-month extension in July to the post which was ending on Sunday.
A close aide of the former J&K chief min ister has confirmed the news.
"He is having two back to back separate meetings with senior and second rung lead ers later today," he said, adding Azad is visiting
Azad, 73, quit Con gress on August 26, terming the party “comprehensively de stroyed”. He also lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for “demolishing” the par ty’s entire consultative mechanism.
Taking a jibe at Congress, Thakur said, ‘The UPA govt used to run not from 7 Race Course Road but from 10 Janpath’
New Delhi (ANI): Un ion Minister Anurag Thakur strongly reacted to Congress leader Dig vijay Singh’s statement comparing RSS with PFI, and said that the Congress is in this con dition today because of Singh’s “Badbolapan” (or impudence).
Anurag Thakur on Sunday targeted Digvi jay Singh and said, “If someone calls terrorist
Osama as “Osama Ji” when strict action is taken against the terror ists, then it can be un derstood that it is being done for the vote bank.”
Taking a jibe at the Congress and the Gan dhi family, Thakur fur ther said “During the UPA government, the government used to run not from 7 Race Course Road but from 10 Jan path.” Claiming to
strengthen the security of the country, Anurag Thakur said, “The gov ernment has been work ing continuously and rapidly to strengthen both internal and exter nal security and devel opment.
Continuous action is being taken against in filtrators and terrorists.
After the abrogation of 370 and 35A, Jammu and Kashmir are developing
rapidly. In the states of the North East, work has been done rapidly from road to rail and airstrip.” The Union Minister also took a jibe at both Shivanand Ti wari and Owaisi, say ing that “Jungle Raj” would return to Bihar.
He further claimed that the government is con tinuously working for the welfare of the Mus lim community through
various schemes such as the abolition of Tri ple Talaq.
Earlier, Thakur lis tened to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat program with senior party leaders at the BJP National Office and paid tributes to Pandit Deendayal Upad hyay at a wreath-laying program organized at the party office on his birth anniversary.
Yoshita Singh
S Jaishankar meets with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in New York on Saturday. Ambassador of India to UN Ruchira Kamboj also present. —PHOTO BY ANI
Union Minister Anurag Thakur, BJP Jt Gen Secy (Org) Shiv Prakash and other BJP leaders pay tribute to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya at BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday.
—PHOTO
BY PTI
File photo of members of women’s organizations during a protest against the remission of the sentence given to the convicts of Bilkis Bano’s case by the Gujarat government, in Mumbai.
z Shyam said since the 1992 verdict in “Janata Dal ver sus HS Chowdhary”, a view which was reiterated and fol lowed in “Subramanian Swamy vs Raju” in 2013, the top court has consistently held in clear terms that a third party who is a total stranger to the prosecution has no locus standi’ in criminal matters and has no right whatsoever in filing a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution.
‘SETTLED POSITION IN LAW’
A team of top mountaineers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police successfully scaled Mount Dome Khang, located at an altitude of 23,786 feet, in north Sikkim. —PHOTO BY ANI
NEW PARTY’S FLAG FINALISED
glance at beauty and glamour was witnessed in the second auditions of the fashion ex travaganza of Elite Miss Ra jasthan at the Pratishtha Banquet, Jaipur on Sunday. During the auditions, girls from different parts of Ra jasthan registered in the auditions. Along with this, in the talent round, partici pants showcased their tal ents including dancing, singing, public speaking, beatboxing and much more on the stage. Around 1550 girls registered themselves from all over the state.
Jagdeesh Chandra graced the event as the chief guest and motivated the participants with his encouraging words.
Patron JD Maheshwari, Director Gaurav Gaur, Na kul Vijayvargiya, PN Doo dy, Anil Bhattar, Yashil Pan dey and Ajit Soni were also present on the occasion.
Supermodel Aditi Hyun dai, Charvi Tanya Dutta, Akanksha Bhalla and Elite Miss Rajasthan 2021 Aastha Khandelwal were present as judges to test the talent of all the girls who ap peared for the auditions.
While addressing the me dia, director Gaurav Gaur shared that before Jaipur, the auditions of this sea son were organised in Jodhpur, Udaipur, followed by Jaipur and now the last audition round of this sea son will be held in Kota on October 2. The show will further announce the top 30 contestants on October 10, while the finale will be grandly held on October 16 in Jaipur.
THE SECOND AUDITIONS OF THE FASHION EXTRAVAGANZA OF ELITE MISS RAJASTHAN WAS HELD AT THE PRATISHTHA BANQUET, JAIPUR ON SUNDAY—PHOTOS BY SUNIL SHARMA KAVITA CHAUHAN cityfirst@firstindia.co.in The stunning participants at the Jaipur auditions of Elite Miss Rajasthan Jagdeesh Chandra walks the ramp. Gaurav
he nine-day Navratri festival takes place in the month of Ashvin. This year devotees will witness the auspicious Navratri festi val from today, September 26 to October 5. ‘Nav’ means nine and ‘Ratri’ means night. It frequently con cludes with Dussehra, also known as Vijayadashami observed on the tenth day of Navratri. In some re gions of India, Dussehra is celebrated as the festival’s main event, essentially ex tending its duration from nine to ten days. Addition ally, because Navratri is based on the lunar calen dar, it might sometimes last eight days, with Dussehra falling on the ninth day.
There are four related holi days known as Navratri that take place throughout the year. Nevertheless, the early-autumn festival known as Sharad Navratri is the most essential. It starts on the same day as Durga Puja, a 10-day cele bration honouring the God dess Durga’s victory that is especially cherished in some eastern states.
In varied ways, Navratri is observed throughout In dia’s many regions. While some people use this time for dancing and feasting, while many use it for reli gious thoughts. Keeping a strict vegetarian diet and avoiding alcohol and spe cific spices are some fast ing habits. Dances are per formed, particularly the Garba in Gujarat. The nine nights of the festival are typically devoted to various facets of the divine femi nine energy or shakti.
The first third of the festi val often concentrates on features of the Goddess
dess Lakshmi, and the last third on the Goddess Saras vati, however, the pattern varies significantly by loca tion. Offerings and ceremo nies are frequently per formed in honour of the Goddesses and all of their incarnations. Kanya Puja, which occurs on the eighth or ninth day, is one wellknown ceremony. Nine young girls are costumed as each of the nine goddess facets honoured during Navratri in this rite.
The celebration is also known as the Durga Puja, especially in Bengal and Assam. The puja or cere monial, days are commem orated with public perfor mances, recitations, dra mas and fairs in addition to home celebrations.
In some areas, the festival of Navratri is considered to be of ten days which in cludes Dussehra. Dussehra is a time to rejoice in the triumphs of good over evil, whether it is during the en tire festival or only on the tenth day.
Fasting is a fairly popular practice among Hindus ac cording to the Hindu calen dar. Devotees practise fast ing to show their devotion and love towards Goddess Durga and her nine ava tars. They think that fast ing satisfies their desires and demonstrates their adoration for the Gods and Goddesses. Hindus cele brate the nine glorious in carnations of the goddess Durga, also known as Nav aDurga, during the festival
of Navratri. Most common ly, fruits, kuttu aata, sabudana, samak rice, dairy items, and sendha namak can be consumed during the festival. The two food items that are prohib ited from the diet are on ions and cloves of garlic.
STORY BEHIND NAVRATRI
Hindus commemorate the goddess Durga’s victory over the devil Mahishasura during the festival of Navratri. Lord Brahma, had granted Mahishasura the gift of immortality, en suring that he would never perish. The only individu al who would be able to beat Mahishasura would be a woman, hence this gift did have one restriction.
Mahishasura was pleased with the bargain because he didn’t believe women could kill him.
No god was able to stop Ma hishasura and his warriors as they became stronger and began assaulting peo ple on Earth. The three most powerful Hindu Gods, Lord Brahma, Lord Vish nu, and Lord Shiva, ulti mately chose to unite in order to defeat Ma hishasura and created Goddess Durga, a for midable woman. Before fighting Mahishasura, the Gods gave Goddess Durga a variety of weapons. The demon battled Durga for ten days and it was challenging since he constantly changed his appearance to trick the Goddess. But when he at last transformed into a
On the 99th Birth anniversary of Dev Anand, City First cajoles you to dreamland with Tere Mere Sapne, a medical drama which brings to the fore the relationship of marriage and partnership with Mumtaz and Hema Malini, tuned to perfection in the hands of Vijay Anand.
sonal peace, hobbies, friends and more and realizes at one time that the top of the ladder is lone ly and precarious and one can’t climb down wilfully, nobody will let you.
VijayAnand, the despairing al coholic doctor who cannot cope with reality anymore and one who finally once again finds meaning is a character who stays with you.
Jaise Radha ne mala japi … croons the beautiful schoolteacher Mumtaz to show her refusal of marriage to the young idealistic doctor Dev Anand is actually a ‘yes’!
Tere Mere Sapne is a movie which is still relevant in India as the few young and idealistic doc tors who complete their studies with dreams of serving the na tion and the Hippocratic Oath ringing in their ears and hearts finally give up ideals and seva to shake hands with the system.
Tere Mere Sapne is for every young couple who comes to the city even today from small towns and fights to belong, where be longingness may mean putting aside family values and vows taken and given. Sometimes they walk together on this path and sometimes a chasm develops leaving one behind… as do Dev Anand and Mumtaz.
Tere Mere Sapne is for every young aspiring celebrity like Hema Malini’s character who climbs higher and higher leaving behind floors strewn with per
Each character of Tere Mere Sapne are all too human and you cannot but feel for them and feel like them. The shades of grey abound but for me, it was the marriage – a marriage based on trust, love and strength – of Dev and Mumtaz which forms the pil lar of the idealism and then its loss for the young doctor, which makes this movie worth a watch. Mumtaz is a strong woman, an equal partner to her husband supporting him when he needs her most but also standing strong and showing him the right path as he flounders.
Dev Anand woos you with his idealism and then with his bro ken-hearted despair. As he floun ders and fumbles, we sway with him, wanting to support him and understand him.
Haan maine kasam li among the sunflowers is pure romance and the chemistry between the two is vibrant. Jeevan ki bagiya mehkegi is poignant with dreams. The other songs frankly did not make much of an impact on me and these are the two songs I remember till date.
Late Dev Anand
Fairmont
Jaipur, the crowned jewel of the pink city, hosted one of India’s pre mier singleday fashion events called Fashion Connect.
Fashion Connect set the bar high with the completion of its very successful previous sea sons. Fashion Connect Season 12, presented by First India News and Bharat 24- Vision of New India, the show was appreciated by eve ryone present.
With the huge re sponse and netizens go ing gaga over the exem plary lineup and digital readiness, the show scored an amazing win over the fashion indus try. Fashion designer Manish Malhotra show cased his exquisite col lection at this year’s Fashion Connect event. The showcase included 80 garments donned by 50 models.
Jagdeesh Chandra graced the occasion with his presence and wel comed everyone to Pink City. While addressing
the audience, he said, "It is indeed a privilege to have amid us Fashion designer Manish Mal hotra. This is the first time in Rajasthan, that a legend like him show cased his ravishing col lection. Along with our endeavour to showcase the beauty and talent of charismatic models and
fashion enthusiasts, with Season 12 of Fash ion Connect, we also strive to empower the young generation, espe cially women by trans forming them into stronger individuals who are aware of their credentials." He further congratulated Rishee Miglani, Brand Ambas
sador and Youth Icon along with Show Direc tor Lokesh Sharma for putting up the grand show.
Manoj Jagyasi, Chief Business Officer and strategic analyst of Bharat 24- Vision of New India, was also pre sent on the occasion with his beautiful wife,
Kinjal Jagyasi. Manish Malhotra paid immense gratitude to everyone on the occa sion and felicitated the pillars of support be hind the successful show on the occasion. The magical evening wit nessed a decorated guest list of lovers of art, craft, fashion and opulence.
CITY FIRST
Rapper and singer Pavani Mehra, who was born in Delhi, just re leased her first single, Khokhla, on the global music scene. Pavani grew up studying Hin dustani Classical Music and Kathak at Prayag Sangeet Samiti Praya graj, and she discovered her comfort and solace, which is stage and per forming live. Her life was turned upside down when she was in troduced to hip hop cul ture because it allowed her to express herself in a way that she had always wanted to write, sing, and perform. She initially pursued com munication design at Pearl Academy but soon discovered that music was her true calling.
After Gully Boy, there hasn't been a shortage of incredible rappers who have finally found a venue to make amaz ing music, but among the plethora of bur geoning rhythmic po ets, the majority of them are men.
Pavani Mehra, a Delhi native, is still in the very early phases of her career, with only a few singles and collaborations to her credit, but there is just enough ability there to break the boy'sclub aura of Indian rap culture.
Delhi-based Ra jiv Gandhi Cancer Insti tute & Re search Centre (RGCIRC) is promot ing the awareness of curability of cancer if detected early. Sep tember is childhood cancer awareness month and with a mo tive a childhood can cer awareness Walk/ Run titled Fitathon was organised. Over 400 people including RGCIRC doctors, childhood cancer sur vivors and their fami lies besides a large number of healthcare providers participat
ed in the 5 km long walk.
“Cancer walk was organised to spread the awarness about cancer,with a mes sage that childhood cancer is highly cur able if it is detected early and treated at good hospitals.
More than 70 per cent of can cer cases in children are curable”, said Dr Gauri Kapoor, Direc tor of Pediatric He matology & Oncology, RGCIRC.
Childhood and adult cancers are not the same and child hood cancers are highly curable. Child
hood cancer is very rare but it is impor tant to identify the red flag signs and re fer such children to specialised paediatric cancer centres for proper diagnosis im mediately. Unfortu nately, many times symptoms and signs of child hood cancer may not be very unique and may mimic common childhood illnesses. Cure rates in India are less since patients have already reached an advanced stage of cancer by the time they present them selves at specialised centres.
re you look ing for busi ness startup ideas in Delhi?
If so, then I am sure that there may one thought that keeps coming to your mind, "Which
business should I start?" When begin ning something new, it is normal to feel a little nervous, but you should know that if you even start a small business with a good plan or execution, there is no chance you will fail. You should re search well and pick the best company concept for your start-up. City First has com piled a list of the top Delhi businesses you may launch in
M any floaters Delhi home as they travel here to build their careers, get better employment their education. A food service a great concept to kids’ hunger for wholesome, delectable cuisine. Dr Sudhir Rawal with family members of cancer survivors Dr Gauri Kapoor with participants Pavani Mehra —PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN Dr Satendra Jain and Dr Gauri Kapoor with participants Jagdeesh Chandra with Manish Malhotra. Also seen are Rishee Miglani, Lokesh Sharma and supermodels Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Manoj Jagyasi, Rishee Miglani, Lokesh Sharma, Anita Hada, Kavita Chauhan and Sonal Sharma Supermodel walks the ramp showcasing Manish Malhotra’s collection —PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA