First India-Mumbai Edition-27th October 2022

SC DECLINES TO TRANSFER AJAY MISHRA’S CASE FROM LOK BENCH

UNITED FOR VICTORY, DIVIDED FOR VICTORY

BJP-Shinde stand united where oppn strong, divided where it is weak!

l 27 municipal corporations, 25 Zilla

First India Bureau

Mumbai: With a view to have the defining edge in the upcoming civic polls, the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) led coali tion will contest some civic polls in alliance, while some others, sepa rately.

Maharashtra

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday announced this and political ob

Crucial

INTRODUCE CURRENCY NOTES WITH IMAGES OF GANESH-LAXMI: KEJRI

servers have started drawing conclusions as to the need for such a bizzare arrangement and understanding be tween the two parties. It is reported that the par ties have decided to come together to give the opposition, a run for their money where it stands on a firmer grounds, but where the BJP-Sena ‘axis’ can gain as much as it can,

the parties will contest separately, in order to have as much ground as

possible to itself. Elec tions for 27 municipal corporations, including

the ‘cash-rich’ Brihan mumbai Municipal Cor poration (BMC), and 25 zilla parishads due in the next few months.

Notably, CM Shinde had in August said the “original” Shiv Sena (the party led by him) and the BJP will contest the forthcoming elec tions to civic bodies in Maharashtra together. The elections are due in various civic bodies in the state, whose elec tion would be under taken only after a deci

KHARGE TAKES OVER AS A NEW CONG CHIEF, PROMISES TO RIDE ON THE... ‘NEW WAVE OF INDIA’

Karge says will continue to look for Sonia advice; Relieved: Sonia

New Delhi: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday appealed to PM Modi to have the pictures of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on the currency notes. Fresh currency may have a picture of Mahatma Gandhi on one side and of 2 deities on other, he added.

TERRORIST TRAPPED, JAWAN INJURED IN J&K’S BARAMULLA

Srinagar: An encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in J&K’s Baramulla on Wednesday. One army jawan has been injured & one terrorist is believed to be trapped. This comes just hours after a foreign terrorist was killed in Kupwara town.

WHATSAPP EXPLAINS WHY APP STOPPED WORKING FOR 2 HRS

New Delhi: WhatsApp suffered a major outage in India and other countries on Tuesday. The app and web clients were down for millions of users for nearly 2 hours. Due to the outage, users were unable to send messages or use any of their services. The Metaowned company has now offered clarification about why its services were down worldwide. “We have asked WhatsApp for a report on the recent outage,” Telecom Min Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Moni Sharma

New Delhi: Mallikar jun Kharge on Wednes day formally took over as the new president of the Congress party— the first non-Gandhi to assume the party’s top post in two-and-a-half decades. He immediate ly vowed to fight the BJP and break its “sys tem of lies, hoax and hatred”, and to imple ment the “Udaipur re solve”. Handing over charge to Kharge, Sonia Gandhi said she was confident and relieved that he will inspire the party and strengthen it under his stewardship.

The Congress, on its part, lavished praise on Sonia, calling her an “icon of sacrifice”. Af ter Kharge took over as new president, AICC gen secy in-charge of organisation KC Venu gopal announced that CWC members, AICC gen secretaries and incharges of states, have tendered their resigna tions, ostensibly to en able the new chief to choose his own team.

I’m very happy today. To tell the truth, I’m feeling relieved. The President you have chosen is an experienced leader who is connected to the ground. He has reached this position through dedication and hard work.

I’m confident he will inspire the par ty and the party will be strengthened under his leadership.

—Sonia Gandhi, Former Cong Chief

It was an “emotional moment” for him that the son of a labourer, who began his political life as an ordinary worker, has been elected Con gress president. Who would have thought that the country will face a political era when lies will hold sway and those sitting in power and ruling the country will try to weaken democracy. But I know that we will break the system of lies, hatred and hoax.

—Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress President

IN A 47-MEMBER STEERING COMMITTEE...THAROOR OUT

I n his first crucial decision after assuming charge of Congress, president on Wednesday constituted a 47-member Steering Committee which will function in place of CWC. The newlyconstituted panel includes Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, AK Antony, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala, Am bika Soni, Ajay Maken, Harish Rawat, Abhishek Singhvi & Anand Sharma.

sion by the courts.

Moreover, Fadnavis also said that he and CM Eknath Shinde will jointly tour some parts of the state ahead of civic elections. Their terms are already over and the poll schedule is not yet announced. Asked how and when he will conduct a tour of the state with the chief minister, Fad navis said, “We will tour the state jointly in some areas and sepa rately at other places.”

MAN BOOKED FOR DEROGATORY WORDS AGAINST CM SHINDE, FADNAVIS

Mumbai: An FIR has been registered against a person for using derogatory words on social media against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Narayan Rane, said Mumbai Police on Wednesday.

A case under sections 153A,153B, 500, 504 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been regis tered against accused Pradeep Bhalekar at Samta Nagar police station in Mumbai. Bhalekar is abscond ing after the case was registered, said police.

9 YEARS, 1 TRADITION: MODI’S DIWALI PLANS WITH SOLDIERS

UK PM Rishi Sunak delays crunch budget plan until November 17

First India Bureau

London: Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Su nak, earned cheers from his lawmakers and plau dits from political com mentators on Wednes day as he locked horns with the opposition La bour Party in parliament for the first time since becoming leader. Britain postponed the announce ment of a plan to repair the country’s public fi nances to November 17, new finance minister Jeremy Hunt said. The delay was to ensure the

right decisions are tak en, Hunt told.

Sunak made key Cabi net appointments and decided to keep the new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in place for economic sta

bility. He brought back Indian-origin Suella Braverman as Home Sec retary while James Clev erly will remain Foreign Secretary despite not be ing a Sunak loyalist.

Shah flags increase in heroin smuggling from West coast

Ahmedabad: Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday expressed concern about the in crease in the smuggling of heroin from the West coast of the country.

Speaking at a meet ing of the western re gion states on `Drug Trafficking and Nation al Security in Gandhi nagar, he also urged the govts of Maha and Goa to play “proactive role” in fight against the drug menace. During a meet ing, nearly 12,500 kg of seized drugs were de stroyed in two locations in Gujarat and Delhi.

IIT BOMBAY ADJUDGED INDIA’S BEST EDUCATION INSTITUTE, SCORES

New Delhi: IIT-Bombay is the best educational institutions in India in the inaugural QS World University Rankings: Sustainability released today. A total of 15 Indi an universities ranked in the list with the Indi an Institute of Technol ogy, Bombay (IIT-B) fea turing in the 281-300 rank range, followed by IIT-Delhi (321-340 rank) and Jawaharlal Nehru University at the third rank (361-380).

QS World University

the world’s most press ing environmental and social issues.

This year, experts evaluated over 1300 higher education insti tutions meeting specific eligibility require ments, out of which 700 institutions appeared on the final ranking list. Fourth rank has been saved for the University of Delhi which features in the 381-400 rank range and the Indian In stitute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) is on the fifth spot (451-500).

Other Indian univer sities that feature in the list are the Indian Insti tute of Technology Roorkee (IIT-R), Ali garh Muslim Universi ty, Jadavpur University, Indian Institute of Sci ence, Indian Institute of Technology Kharag pur (IIT-KGP), Banaras Hindu University, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pi lani, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M).

First India Bureau

Maha CM Eknath Shinde & his deputy Devendra Fadnavis came to power on June 30 this year. —FILE PHOTO

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, centre, alongside the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, centre right, holds his first Cabinet meeting in Downing street on Wednesday. PHOTO BY ANI

Newly-elected Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi during his charge-taking ceremony, at AICC headquarters, in Delhi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

HM Amit Shah being presented with a bouquet by Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel as Sonah Shah looks on, on the occasion of Gujarati New Year, in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. (R) Amit Shah addressing at a high level regional meeting on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’, in Gandhinagar on Wednesday.

PM Narendra Modi, who has been celebrating Diwali with the security personnel since 2014, visited Kargil on Monday.

Mallikarjun Kharge requests Sonia to sit beside his chair as he assumes charge at AICC HQ. Rahul Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot, Venugopal, Chidambaram, Anans Sharma, Avinash Pande, Girija Vyas & other top leaders are also seen here.

Una: Union Minister Anurag Thakur addressed election meetings in support of BJP candidate Virendra Kanwar in Kutlehar’s Lathiani, Dhundhala, Arlu and other places. During this, Thakur apprised public about working of double engine government.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has declined to transfer an appeal against the 2004 acquittal of Union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ in a murder case from the Allahabad HC’s Lucknow bench to the principal bench in Prayagraj.

MAHA

WITH FIRE ON OCCASION OF DIWALI

CONTROL,

Navi Mumbai/Pune/ Thane/Palghar: As many as five fire ten ders successfully brought the blaze which broke out at a rice godown of Food Corporation of India (FCI) in Navi Mum bai’s Kalamboli under control.

Chief Fire Officer Saurabh Patil informed that the department re ceived the call about the incident in the early hours of Wednesday.

“We got a call about the fire at around 7.04 am. Five fire tenders were present at the spot. The fire has been brought under control,” said CFO Patil.

However, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascer tained, said officials.

In another incident, a fire broke out at a go down in Mumbai’s Saki naka area where eight fire tenders reached to douse off a level-2 fire.

Meanwhile, another fire broke out in a house in Goregaon East in a Mumbai building. A

team of fire tenders was deployed to the spot im mediately. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascer tained but no injuries or deaths were reported in the incident.

At least 15 incidents of fire caused by firecrack ers were reported in Pune city on the first day of Diwali and in one in cident an entire flat was gutted, said an official on Tuesday.

While no one was in

jured in these incidents, a four-year-old boy suf fered burn injuries when a firecracker exploded.

All 15 incidents, sus pected to have been caused by firecrackers, were reported from vari ous parts of the city be tween 7 pm and 11 pm on Monday.

In Thane and Palghar districts, around 20 inci dents of fire were report ed on Diwali. Most of them occurred due to

REPORT INCIDENTS

BLAME ON CRACKERS

Deshmukh moves HC to seek bail in graft case

Court directs CBI to file response on Nov 09, sets hearing for Nov 11

First India Bureau

bursting of crackers, but no one was injured, offi cials said on Tuesday.

Chief of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC)’s Regional Disas ter Management Cell (RDMC), Avinash Sawant, said no one was injured in the fire-relat ed incidents.

Of the total incidents, 11 were reported in Thane and nine in its ad joining district of Pal ghar, he said.

Two scrap godowns were gutted in separate incidents in Bhiwandi taluka of Thane district. Six fire-related incidents were reported in Va sai taluka of Palghar district alone. A fire broke out in a fourbedroom flat located on the first floor of a 12-storey building in Aundh area of Pune. “Seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Around 30 to 35 residents were shifted to the terrace for safety and the fire was doused,” said a fire brigade official. No one was injured but the entire flat was gutted in the blaze, he said. Most of the blaze-related inci dents were caused due to bursting of firecrackers on the festival of lights.

‘Is CM Shinde’s Diwali revelry for publicity?’

Pune: Senior Nation alist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pa war on Wednesday said farmers in Maha rashtra were facing a crisis after suffering crop losses due to the “wet drought” caused by heavy rains in parts of the state.

Pawar also said he met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Dep uty Chief Minister Dev endra Fadnavis before Diwali and told them that the “situation has gone out of hand”.

The former deputy CM was speaking on the occasion of the Pawar family’s Diwali celebra tion at their residence ‘Govindbaug’ in Bara mati town of Pune.

The kharif and rabi crops were damaged and farmers were fac ing a crisis, he said.

A number of people and party workers came there to greet NCP chief Sharad Pawar, his

daughter and Lok Sab ha member from Bara mati Supriya Sule and other family members on Diwali. On Sunday, former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also demanded that the Ma harashtra government declare “wet drought” in the state and provide Rs50,000 per hectare as compensation to farm ers affected by rains without waiting for the loss assessment reports.

CM Shinde on Tues day described farmers as “anna data” or food providers and said culti vators who have suf fered crop losses due to excessive and unseason al rains will be ade quately compensated.

Mumbai (PTI): The Nationalist Con gress Party (NCP) on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Eknath Shinde if he celebrated Diwali with police in Naxalite-affected Gadchiroli district for the sake of pub licity.

“Good to know that CM Eknath Shinde ji celebrated Diwali with Police in Gadchiroli. But the question is, why only there? Did he celebrate there be

NCP questions

cause it is a naxal area and it will garner him more publicity?”

tweeted NCP Spokes person Clyde Crasto.

Shinde on Tuesday visited Bhamragad in the eastern Maharash

FOR THE PEOPLE

tra and celebrated Di wali with police per sonnel.

Police across Maha rashtra risk their lives in the line of duty and if the CM genuinely wanted to boost their morale he should have celebrated Diwali with them across the state, he added. “Anyway CM ji is spending a lot of his time attending functions, he could have attended more and for a change it would have been for a good cause,” he said.

Mumbai: Former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednes day moved the Bom bay High Court (HC) seeking bail in a case of corruption and mis use of official power which is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Deshmukh (73) ap proached the HC after a special CBI court reject ed his bail plea last week.

The Nationalist Con gress Party (NCP) leader is presently in judicial custody and lodged at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai.

His lawyer Aniket Ni kam mentioned the peti tion before a vacation bench of Justice Sharmi la Deshmukh on Wednes day seeking an urgent hearing.

The court directed the CBI to file its reply affi davit by November 09 and posted the matter for hearing on November 11.

HEALTH EXCUSE

In his plea in the HC, Deshmukh said he is suf fering from several ailments and is incarcerated since almost a year and the trial in the case may not commence anytime soon. The plea claimed the special court, while refusing him bail, has merely done a “cut, copy and paste” of the CBI charge sheet filed in the case.

The NCP leader is in jail since November last year after the Enforce ment Directorate (ED) arrested him in a money laundering case.

The CBI arrested him in April this year in the corruption case. The HC had granted bail to Desh mukh earlier this month in the case registered by the ED. However, the spe cial CBI court had reject ed his plea in the corrup tion case, noting that

Congress to hold two ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ rallies in Maha

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Con gress has planned to organize two rallies in Maharashtra as part of Rahul Gan dhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ which is set to enter the state on No vember 07.

The rallies will be held at Nanded and at She gaon in Buldhana dis trict, said senior party leader Manikrao Thakre on Wednesday. The yatra will proceed through the Nanded district for four days. Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting in the district on Novem ber 10, he said.

The campaign—a foot march—will enter Ma harashtra at Deglur in Nanded district from Telangana on November 07 and travel for 382 km across five districts be fore entering Madhya Pradesh on November 20. In Maharashtra, the yatra is scheduled to en ter Hingoli district on

November 11, Washim district on November 15, Akola district on Novem ber 16 and Buldhana dis trict on November 18.

The Shegaon rally in Buldhana will be held between November 18 and 20. Senior leader Balasaheb Thorat, who is the state coordinator for the Yatra, recently visited Nanded district to oversee the prepara tions. Nationalist Con gress Party (NCP) Presi dent Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena President Ud dhav Thackeray, both part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition that includes the Con gress, will join the yatra in the state.

My govt committed to Maha’s all-round devt: Shinde

CM talks about aid disbursed

citizens

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Chief Minis ter Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said his government was com mitted to all-round de velopment of the state. He also reiter ated that after taking charge three months ago, he has taken wel fare measures for var

ious sections of the society, including farmers and senior citizens.

In a video message greeting people on the occasion of Diwali, the chief minister said agri culture, irrigation, edu cation and infrastruc ture sectors are being given priority by the state government, which was inclusive in nature. Maharashtra is the country’s growth en gine, said Shinde, who

took oath on June 30 and celebrated his first Di wali as chief minister.

Maintaining that his “government is the gov ernment of people”, Shinde said in the last three months, the state administration has tak en various decisions for the welfare of common citizens.

He said more than one crore senior citizens above the age of 75 years have benefited from the government’s scheme of free travel in state trans

port buses targeted at them.

Speaking about farm ers, Shinde said cultiva tors have been given fi nancial assistance of more than Rs4,000 crore, while Rs950 crore of loans taken by agricul turists from land devel opment banks have been written off.

Recruitment has started in the police de partment and a drive was underway to fill va cant posts of constables, he added.

The Nagpur to Shirdi (Ahmednagar district) stretch (around 520km long) of the Samruddhi Mahamarg (express way) will be inaugurat ed soon, said the chief minister. The 700kmlong expressway will connect Nagpur and Mumbai.

Steps are being taken to ease traffic conges tion in the Mumbai Met ropolitan Region (MMR) and more than 600km long roads are being con cretized, said Shinde.

there was prima facie evidence against him.

In his plea in the HC, Deshmukh said he is suf fering from several ail ments and is incarcerat ed since almost a year and the trial in the case may not commence any time soon. The plea claimed the special court, while refusing him bail, has merely done a “cut, copy and paste” of the CBI charge sheet filed in the case.

CRUCIAL READ

THREE KILLED, 12 INJURED IN BLAST AT CHEM FACTORY

Palghar: At least three workers were killed and 12 others injured in a blast at a chemical factory located at Tarapur MIDC in Boisar town of Palghar district on Wednesday. The incident occurred at 4.20 pm at the unit that produces gamma acid used in the textile industry. The intensity of the blast was such that the roof of the plant got ripped off, said officials. “Due to the explosion in the reactor vessel at the chemical factory, three workers died and 12 others suffered injuries. While the bodies of the victims were sent to a government hospital for post-mortem, the injured were admitted to a nearby hospital,” said Sachin Navadkar, Palghar Police Spokesperson. On being alerted, personnel from the Boisar police station and local fire brigade rushed to the spot, he said.

EX-MLA VINAYAK NIMHAN DIES OF HEART ATTACK

Pune: Former Member of the Maharashtra Legis lative Assembly Vinayak Nimhan (59) died due to heart attack in Pune on Wednesday. He suffered a heart attack while heading for the family’s resort near Pune and died on the way to the hospital, said a family member. Nimhan represented the Shivajinagar constituency in Pune as Shiv Sena MLA from 1999 to 2004. He later joined the Congress along with Narayan Rane and retained the seat in 2009 on the Congress ticket. He is survived by parents, wife and son. The last rites will be performed on Wednesday night.

First India Bureau

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde addresses the public in a video message on Twitter.

First India Bureau

Fire tenders douse flames at Food Corporation of India’s rice godown in Kalamboli of Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

The NCP leader is currently lodged in Arthur Road jail in Mumbai.

CM Eknath Shinde breaks bread with cops in Gadchiroli district.

CM’s move to spend time with police personnel in Naxalaffected dist

Party

Ajit Pawar —FILE

PHOTO

Leopard trapped at Aarey; baby killer or not?

Yet to be ascertained if it killed 1.5-yr-old girl two days ago; officials find another feline in area

First India Bureau

Mumbai: A male leop ard was trapped in a cage in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony on Wednesday. However, forest officials have stated that it was yet to be determined if it was the same feline which killed a toddler in the area two days ago. Officials have spotted another leop ard in the area.

After the animal walked into the cage, it was taken to a rescue centre at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) for further ex amination and observa

tion, said a forest offi cial. Aarey Colony is a green belt of Mumbai’s western suburb of

Goregaon and is located close to the sprawling SGNP. A one-and-a-halfyear-old girl was at

tacked and killed by a leopard in a forested area in unit number 15 of Aarey Colony on

Monday morning when the child followed her mother who was on way to a temple nearby.

“There is another male leopard, identified as ‘C-56’, in the field. We will continue to moni tor his movements

through 30 camera traps and have also set up three trap cages at strategic locations,” said the forest official. Forest officials and wildlife volunteers lat er put up cages at stra tegic locations in and

Defaming husband without proof is cruelty, says HC

The court stated the wife’s conduct in making unwarranted and false allegations against her husband’s character results in damage to his reputation in society

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Bom bay High Court Divi sion Bench, compris ing of Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Sharmila Deshmukh, ruled that false and baseless allegations against a man, such as calling him a “womanizer” and “al coholic”, constitute cruelty under Section 13(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The case pertains to

a petition filed by a woman before a family court for restitution of conjugal rights even as her husband sought a divorce. The family court was also hearing a petition filed by the wife for maintenance.

In response to her husband’s counterclaim, the woman stated in court that he was a “womanizer and alcoholic”.

After hearing both parties, the family court issued a decree

More than 90K LSD-affected cattle recover in Maha

granting divorce and Rs2,000 in monthly maintenance to the wife. The wife then filed an appeal against the decree of the family court before the high court. The man, who had retired as ‘Major’ from the Army, had died while the appeal was being heard by the high court.

The high court dismissed the petition after noting that the

Family wanted for filing fake rape case

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Amboli police are looking for a woman who married a 30-year-old man from Andheri after ly ing about her matri monial past and filed a rape case against him.

petitioner had not sub stantiated her allega tion and did not pro duce any evidence be fore the court to prove her allegation.

The court also took on record that the wife had caused the husband mental agony by making false and defamatory allegations against him in society. The respond ent had informed the court that the wife had approached the mem

HIGH COURT GRANTS BAIL TO MAN ACCUSED OF RAPING TEEN

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court was of the view that a mar ried man from Pune, accused of kidnapping and raping a minor, “need not be subjected to further custody”, and granted him bail. The bench of Justice PD Naik was hearing a peti tion for bail filed by ac cused Sunny Bike, who was arrested on June 13, 2021 in connection with a case registered

bers of the institution wherein he was doing social work and levelled the same allegations against him, defaming

with the Vimantal Police Station, Pune, in 2020. According to the girl’s mother, on June 18, 2020, the 16-yearold told her that she was going to work and did not return home.

An FIR was registered against unknown per sons. Finally, on August 26, she was found at Saswad, a two-hour drive from Pune. The police then handed her over to her mother.

him in society, and by reason of this conduct, his marital, as well as social life, has been com pletely destroyed.

Minor girl gang raped after ‘escape’ from hosp, 1 held

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

Pune: Since the first week of August, when the first case was re ported from Chinawal village of Jalgaon dis trict’s Raver taluka, the lumpy skin dis ease (LSD) has affect ed 1,43,089 cattle in Maharashtra so far.

The good news, how ever, is that 93,166 of them have recovered af ter treatment, said a senior animal husband ry department official on Wednesday.

According to Animal Husbandry Commis sioner Sachindra Pratap Singh, in Sep tember, the state gov ernment had declared the entire state to be a “controlled area” and restricted the move ment of cattle and out lawed animal fairs. Since then, the disease has now spread to 3,030 villages in 32 districts.

“The affected cattle

are being treated in the state and as on date, 140.97 lakh vaccines have been made availa ble in various districts,” Singh said, adding that around 97% of the cattle had been vaccinated.

So far, 135.58 lakh cat tle have been given free vaccination in the state, he said.

The vaccination pro cess has been completed in Jalgaon, Ahmedna gar, Dhule, Akola, Au rangabad, Beed, Kol hapur, Sangli, Washim, Jalna, Nandurbar and Mumbai suburbs, said the official.

LSD is a contagious viral infection that af fects cattle and can also lead to death.

The woman, identified as Harshita Pandey, mar ried the man in Novem ber last year. In May, she filed a rape case against him, which made him suspicious. The man then applied for a copy of his marriage certifi cate and learnt that no application was found. According to the cops, she has filed rape and dowry cases against two other men, too. Her fam ily, including her broth er, mother and father, are involved in the racket.

Mumbai: Police have detained a cab driver and are searching for another accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Mumbai.

The minor was brought to Nair Hospi tal for a suicide risk as sessment after threat ening to kill herself if she was not permitted to leave the shelter home where she was staying after a prior in cident of sexual as sault. After making her way out of the hospital, she was raped by two people who had prom ised to get her a job.

The girl had been

sexually assaulted ear lier, said sources at the MRA Marg police sta tion in south Mumbai. She was subsequently transferred to a shelter home in Matunga in July by the Child Wel fare Committee in Don gri, said police. She escaped from the

hospital a few days later and went to the CSMT, where two taxi drivers approached her and of fered to help her find a job, said officials. They took her to a lodge on October 22 and raped her, they added.

The next day, the minor returned to the shelter home and narrated her ordeal. They alerted the police who lodged a case of rape, gang rape and kidnapping.

The survivor identi fied the two perpetra tors as Sonu and Rajen dra. The police identi fied and nabbed Ab himanyu after examin ing CCTV camera foot age at CSMT, said cops.

DIFFICULT TO BREATHE

around the site to cap ture the animal.

The official said it was yet to be ascer tained if the captured leopard was behind the attack on Monday.

But since the feline was captured from a strategic location, it could be the same ani mal, he said. After the incident on Monday, various loca tions were decided for the installation of trap cages based on the ground information and evaluation of facts.

“As many as 30 wild life volunteers from Aar ey, NGOs (non-govern mental organizations),

forest department offi cials and personnel from the SGNP were working together to initiate an ac tion plan to prevent hu man-wildlife conflict in the area,” said Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) Found er and President, Pawan Sharma, who is also hon orary wildlife warden with the state forest de partment.

The forest depart ment and wildlife vol unteers will continue the mitigation exercise and keep monitoring the movement of other animals in the area throughout the week, said a forest official.

CRUCIAL READ

Pune: A man has been arrested for extorting Rs5 lakh from a city-based grocery trader by posing as a reporter of a leading English daily and threatening the shop owner of publishing his news about the sale of adul terated grains. The accused also demanded Rs20 lakh from the trader. Three aides of the main accused have also been arrested, police said on Wednesday. A complaint in this connection was lodged by Tejaram Devasi, who runs the grocery shop in Mundhwa area of the city.

WOMAN CHEATED OF `18.5L BY SOCIAL MEDIA ‘FRIENDS’

DACOITS ATTACK FAMILY, DECAMP WITH VALUABLES

Thane: Unidentified social media users cheated a woman of Rs18.51 lakh af ter befriending her on Face book. A man and a woman sent friendship requests to the 48-year-old complainant earlier this year. In August, the duo messaged the woman that they had sent an expensive gift to her but she will need to pay some money for getting it cleared from the customs, which she did. When no gift arrived, she realized that she had been cheated.

Thane: A gang of five armed dacoits looted valuables from a bungalow and attacked family members, leaving two of them injured, in Thane district in the wee hours of Tuesday. The unidentified dacoits gained entry into the bungalow in the Raju Nagar locality from the rear side and assaulted its occupants at around 2 am before decamping with valuables, they said. The exact value of the looted items was not yet known, the police said.

MAN KILLED OVER OLD DISPUTE, HIS BODY WITH SLIT THROAT FOUND IN THANE CITY

Thane: A 32-year-old man was killed allegedly by his friend and a few others, at Mumbra in Thane city over some old dispute, police said on Wednesday. The body of the victim, Faizan Iqbal Memon, a resident of Kausa, was recovered on Tuesday. Around 4 pm on October 24, the victim’s friend called him out of his house and took him along. Memon did not return home that night. But the next day, he was found dead with his throat slit, said an official of Mumbra police station. His wife later lodged a complaint, based on which an offence under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302 (murder) was registered against the accused.

Mumbai’s AQI dips to ‘poor’ on 3rd day of Diwali

First India Bureau Mumbai: The day af ter Diwali was a smoggy one, as the air quality of Mum bai city was one of the worst on record.

The air quality index (AQI) hovered between poor to very poor cate gories with Mazgaon,

BKC, Chembur, Malad, Borivali and Andheri being the most polluted areas.

The AQI across the city remained in the same category on Wednesday as well, with predictions for Thursday not too hope ful. However, a change in the weather could

improve the air quality. Although it began at “moderate” in the day,

“The situation this year has changed as the southwest monsoon has already withdrawn and the anti-cyclonic sys tem prevails due to which conditions such as stagnation of winds prevail…it holds pollutants in the air. Hence, firecrackers and additional emissions lead to the deterioration of AQI.”

—Gufran Beig, Founder & Project Director, SAFAR

the AQI plummeted to “very poor” level late at night on Diwali. The

overall PM 2.5 (fine in halable particles) jumped to 290 (poor) on Tuesday morning and by evening, it further deteriorated to 305 (very poor) as per Sys

tem of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, or SA FAR, a Government of India initiative to meas ure the air quality of metropolitan cities.

The captured animal was taken to a rescue centre at Sanjay Gandhi National Park for examination and observation. —PHOTO BY ANI

FOUR HELD FOR EXTORTING `5 LAKH FROM GROCERY TRADER BY POSING AS REPORTER

Mazgaon, BKC, Chembur, Malad, Borivali and Andheri recorded to be the most polluted areas in Mumbai.

—ANI PHOTO

BJP MEETING CPM TO DESTABILISE TMC?

GANESH, LAKSHMI ON CURRENCY IS AAP’S TWIST TO RELIGIOUS POLITICS

TMC MOCKS SUVENDU

The TMC said it does not give importance to Adhikari’s statements. “Suvendu Adhikari used to say ‘BJP hatao Desh Banchao’ till mid-2020. He had campaigned against Amit Shah during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Being an oppor tunist and unethical person, he crossed over to the BJP. We don’t attach any importance to the utterances of an unethical person,” TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.

In politics, especially in India, there are no permanent friends or foes. Politics is a game of strange bedfellows and there is no change in this old order. Recently, the meet ing of BJP MP Raju Bista and party MLA Shankar Ghosh with veteran CPI(M) leader and former mayor of Siliguri Ashok Bhattacharya at his (Bhattacharya’s) house raised eyebrows and the po litical grapevine was quick to spin a yarn about the report ed saffron camp’s plan to rope in the Left leader ahead of the panchayat elections slated for next year.

Though both the Left and the BJP leaders described it as a “courtesy visit”, the rul ing Trinamool Congress has smelt a conspiracy! However, brushing aside speculations and describing the meeting as a “courtesy visit” by the BJP leaders, Bhattacharya told the media, “If an MP pays a visit on the occasion of Diwali, I cannot shut the door on his face. It was also the death anniversary of my wife and everyone was invit

IT IS RISHI SUNAK’S TURN AT THE HELM

FEW POINTS TO PONDER

z The recent ED raids and the visuals doing the rounds across the media in the country, political observers feel will have an impact on the ruling party in the state

z The party had to go on a defensive mode and distance itself from the leaders who were in the ED scanner

ed. The speculations that are doing rounds are baseless and unjust.”

Calling it a “courtesy vis it”, BJP Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said, “Ashok Bhattacha rya is a former minister, MLA and mayor of Siliguri. I came here to extend my Diwali greetings to him. It was also the death anniversary of his wife. Therefore, I wanted to meet him at his residence.”

“Our party MP Raju Bista wanted to meet the Left lead er to inquire about his health.

So, during the auspicious oc casion of Diwali, I went with him. It is wrong to draw a conclusion based on this. It is also not right to consider it a political meeting,” said BJP’s Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh, who was previously with the CPI(M).

The TMC’s mouthpiece

z It may also be noted that TMC will have to prepare its panchayat poll blueprint on its own with its prime politi cal strategist and strong man, Anubrata Mondal in a spot and under ED scanner

z Mondal has been a poll striker for the TMC in its citadel in Birbhum and the adjacent districts for a very long time

‘Jago Bangla’ on Tuesday pub lished an editorial, mention ing that the BJP’s meeting with Bhattacharya may have serious political connotations. Meanwhile, TMC state gener al secretary Kunal Ghosh went on to say, “There is a con spiracy going on to destabilise the government, especially in the northern part of the state. It may be noted that BJP lead ers have been demanding a separate state for the people in north Bengal.

“We have information that the BJP wants to destabilise the northern part of Bengal and plan to make it a Union Territory with some parts of Bihar. We have said this before and are saying it now that the Left and the BJP are trying to destabilise the state govern ment. They will, of course, say that it was a courtesy visit

but we know what is happen ing. They are seeking Bhat tacharya’s support to execute their plans,” alleged Ghosh.

HINDU MAHASABHA TO FIGHT RURAL POLLS?

The Akhil Bharat Hindu Ma hasabha announced that it will contest next year’s pan chayat elections in West Ben gal. The outfit that was rela tively unknown in the con temporary political land scape of West Bengal also tried to strike another contro versy on Friday by demand ing that the photo of Gandhi on currency notes should be replaced with that of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

SUVENDU’S CLAIM

The Trinamool Congress’s rule in West Bengal will be over in a few months, leader of opposition Suvendu Adhi kari claimed recently, stating that the police cannot save the regime anymore.

Addressing a ‘Bijaya Sam milani’ or post-Durga Puja meeting in his hometown Kan thi in Purba Medinipur dis trict, the BJP leader said that his party will fight next year’s panchayat elections “inch by inch”. He said the BJP will form “strong” teams in every booth to counter the TMC’s “terror” in the panchayat polls.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

More than Britain, there is joy in In dia over Rishi Su nak becoming the first Briton of col our to become the country’s prime minister because of his India link. Sunak is the youngest to lead the country and, reportedly, is richer than the King and is a prac ticing Hindu. His appoint ment is indeed a milestone moment in British history and speaks volumes about the equal opportunities avail able to immigrants in the United Kingdom, which ruled over us for centuries. No matter how excited we may be at the prospect of puja being performed at 10 Downing Street, his official residence and his Bengalurubased billionaire in-laws, Ri

Rishi Sunak leading the Tories to an electoral victory will be a true test of the white man’s (and woman) having come out of the colonial and racist mindset. Lest we forget, Sunak is the choice of Tory MPs and that he earlier lost to Liz Truss when over a million Tory members were asked to choose between the two

shi Sunak will have to watch, and promote, Britain’s inter ests if wants his Conserva tive Party to win elections in two years’ time.

Rishi Sunak leading the To ries to an electoral victory will be a true test of the white man’s (and woman) having

come out of the colonial and racist mindset. Lest we forget, Sunak is the choice of Tory MPs and that he earlier lost to Liz Truss when over a million Tory members were asked to choose between the two.

For now Sunak’s appoint ment as prime minister has stabilised Britain’s revolving door politics. His new cabi net reflects Sunak’s attempt to unite Tory factions and now has the task of propping up the inflation-plagued economy and making life af fordable for Britons. Retain ing Jeremy Hunt as Chancel lor showed his belief in con tinuity and seriousness to wards the economy. For India the proof of pudding will lie in early signing of the Free Trade Agreement promised by Boris Johnson.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has come up with a new idea to give the coun try’s religious poli tics a new twist. While doing Diwali puja, he said, the idea dawned on him that images of Lord Ganesh and goddess Lak shmi, the deities who represent wealth and prosperity, should be there on India’s currency notes. The new currency notes being printed should carry these im ages for the sake of the coun try’s prosperity when even with out invocation of gods it is be lieved to be doing much better than developed economies.

Kejriwal’s is not so subtle an at tempt to give religious politics a new turn has been done with Gu jarat and Himachal Pradesh elec tions in mind and to beat the BJP at its own game. The ruling par ty’s politics has revolved around Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura. To make his proposal acceptable to Muslims he cited the example of Indonesia, a Islamic country, which has Lord Ganesh on its cur rency. It may still not work.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

and published by

on behalf of

Hada

at Dangat

at

Manglorean

Editor-In-Chief:

Jagdeesh Chandra

Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people. Buddha

Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda

Hearty congratulations to all of you on the festival of ‘Govardhan Puja’, a symbol of nature, cattle promotion and environmental protection. On this holy day, taking inspiration from Lord Shri Krishna, let us all take a pledge for the protection and promotion of mother cow. Krishna bless everyone. Jai Shri Krishna!

Bhupender Yadav @byadavbjp

Proud moment! Two more Indian beaches have made it to the list of Blue Beaches. Minicoy, Thundi Beach and Kadmat Beach - both in Lakshadweep - are the proud entrants in the coveted list of Blue Beaches, an eco-label given to the cleanest beaches in the world.

ROBIN ROY

The writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India

Peace and tranquillity in border essential: Jaishankar to Chinese envoy

New Delhi: Peace and tranquillity in the bor der areas are essential for normal ties between India and China, Exter nal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conveyed to outgoing Chinese Am bassador Sun Weidong on Wednesday.

Jaishankar made the remarks when the en voy called on him.

India and China are locked in a lingering border standoff in eastern Ladakh for over 29 months. The bi lateral relationship came under severe strain following the deadly clash in Galwan Valley in Eastern

Ladakh in June, 2020.

“Received Ambassa dor Sun Weidong of China for a farewell call. Emphasized that the development of In dia-China relations is guided by the 3 Mutu als. Peace and tranquil ity in the border areas is essential,” the exter nal affairs minister tweeted.

“The normalization of India-China rela tions is in the interest of both countries, of Asia and the world at large,” he said.

India has been as serting that the SinoIndia ties must be based on three mutu

als: mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest.

In his farewell re marks at an event on Tuesday, Sun said it is natural for China and

India to have some dif ferences but the focus should be to seek com mon ground for devel opment while resolv ing the pending issues through dialogue.

“I’M VERY IMPRESSED BY YOUR MINISTER...”

Last month, the In dian and Chinese mili taries carried out dis engagement from the Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area last month.

In Shah’s presence, over 12,500 kg drugs destroyed in Gujarat & Delhi

Ahmedabad (Agen cies): Union Home Min ister Amit Shah ad dressed a meeting of the western region states on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’ in Gandhinagar on Wednesday. “I congratu late Gujarat Chief Min ister Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat Police and Guja rat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi for doing commendable work in stopping this activity by running sev eral operations in coor dination with central agencies,” Shah said at the meeting.

While Patel was pre sent on the dais, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Maha rashtra deputy CM Dev endra Fadnavis among others joined through VC. Nearly 12,500 kg of seized drugs were de stroyed at two locations in Gujarat and Delhi as the meeting was in pro gress in Gandhinagar.

HM TO CHAIR 2-DAY ‘CHINTAN SHIVIR’

New Delhi: Develop ment of an ecosystem for cybercrime man agement, increase in usage of IT in criminal justice system, wom en’s safety, coastal security issues will be discussed at the twoday ‘Chintan Shivir’ of home ministers of states at Surajkund on October 27 and 28.

Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurates a high level regional meeting on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’, in Gandhinagar on Wednesday. (Left) Drugs being destroyed in presence of Shah.

EASTERN ZONAL COUNCIL MEET

Kolkata: Chances of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Union Home Minister Amit Shah coming face to face on November 5 are high as the latter is scheduled to attend and chair the meeting of the Eastern Zonal Security Council at the Bengal secretariat of Nabanna.

Senior IAS officer on long leave

Lucknow: Senior IAS officer of UP cadre Monika S Garg, ACS

Minority Welfare, Mus lim Waqf, has gone on a long leave. Many ACS rank officials have al ready retired in the state and those who are left have the charge of many departments.

In such a situation, the government has handed over the charge of ACS Minority Af

SHAH TO INAUGURATE, LAY STONE OF PROJECTS WORTH RS 6,629 CR IN H’YANA

Chandigarh (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate and lay foundation stones of four projects worth Rs 6,629 crore from a programme in Haryana’s Faridabad, according to a statement. The event will be held on Thursday at Faridabad’s Parade Ground, Sector 12.He will lay the foundation stone of the Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor project costing

PM TO INAUGURATE VARIOUS PROJECTS

Visakhapatnam: PM Narendra Modi will visit Visakhapatnam on November 11 to inaugurate and lay foundations for vari ous developmental and infrastructure projects. Railway of ficials have received the communication that he will be in the port city.

Rs 5,618 crores besides the inauguration of a Rs 590 core rail coach refurbishment factory in Sonipat. The projects also include the country’s first longest elevated railway track built in Rohtak at Rs 315.40 crore.The home minister will also dedi cate and inaugurate the Haryana Police Residence Complex, Bhondsi, con structed at a cost of Rs 106 crore.

PM LIKELY TO VISIT AP ON OCT 30

Itanagar: Prime Min ister Narendra Modi is likely to visit AP on October 30 to inau gurate the Donyi Polo Airport near here, a senior official said. CM Pema Khandu had recently met the prime minister and request ed him to inaugurate the greenfield airport in Hollongi, he said.

Mahesh Sharma

New Delhi: Even be fore the results of Con gress President’s elec tion were out, Shashi Tharoor and his team had started making al legations of election malpractices. Shortly after the counting of votes began on Wednes day, Tharoor’s election agent Salman Soz made allegations of election rigging. He said that he was in touch with the

head of the election au thority Madhusudan Mistry and informed him about many things. However, he said that he cannot go into detail about it. He made alle gations of electoral mal practices in Uttar Pradesh, which has the maximum number of representatives, approx imately eleven hundred. Tharoor’s team also de manded cancellation of elections in UP. Earlier, during the election cam

ENOUGH ROOM IN WORLD FOR CHINA, INDIA; LET’S NOT INTERFERE IN OTHER’S AFFAIRS: OUTGOING ENVOY New Delhi (ANI): Out going Chinese envoy to India Sun Weidong in his farewell address has stressed the need to manage and resolve differences between India and China and uphold the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. Sun, who as sumed office in July 2019, is leaving at a time when the two sides continue to man age ties, following the Ladakh border clash

that has remained the dominant issue between the two sides. In his farewell remarks posted on the Chinese embassy website, Sun said it is only natural for important neighbours China and India to have some differences but the key is how to handle the differences. “We should be aware that the common interests of the two countries are greater than differ ences,” the envoy said.

Kharge chairs Congress CEC meeting for Guj assembly polls

New Delhi (ANI): Mallikarjun Kharge, who on Wednesday took over as Congress president, chaired a meeting of the par ty’s Central Election Committee (CEC) to finalise candidates for the Gujarat as sembly polls.

Former Congress president Sonia Gan dhi was also present at the meeting. Three meetings of Congress screening committee have already been held for Gujarat as sembly polls. The Congress is seeking to oust the BJP gov ernment in Gujarat and is also facing challenge from Aam Aadmi Party which is seeking to establish itself in the state. The BJP has been contin uously in power in Gujarat from 1998.

The assembly polls in Gujarat would be held before the end of the year. Kharge offi cially took charge as the party president at the AICC headquar ters in New Delhi.

Telangana (PTI): After a three-day break, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to resume its march from Tel angana on Thursday.

The Congress Minister of Parliament will be reaching Hyderabad later in the day and will leave for Makthal in Narayanpet district to resume the yatra after a night halt.

New Delhi (PTI): Hours after Sonia Gan dhi handed over charge as Congress chief to Mallikarjun Kharge, her daughter and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shared an Instagram post with the mes sage: “So proud of you Ma, no matter what the world says or thinks, I know, you did it all for love.”

Yogi approves VRS application for ‘87 batch

Ahtesham Siddiqui

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minis ter Yogi Adityanath has given his approval to the VRS application of 1987-batch Indian AAdministrative Ser vices officer Renuka Kumar.

An officer of UP cad re, Renuka Kumar was on central deputation. Annoyed by the central government’s move to

SOMETHING FISHY

send her back from the deputation, Renuka in stead of returning to UP sent her VRS to the UP government in the office of the Resident Commissioner, New Delhi in August.

After getting NOC from the central gov ernment, Chief Minis ter Yogi has given his approval to the VRS ap plication.

Her husband Sunil Kumar is also an IAS

the VRS of IAS Renuka Kumar would not have been approved and if she had returned to Ut tar Pradesh, many equations could have changed in the state bu reaucracy.

Renuka Kumar was to retire in June 2023.

She has been a trusted officer of Yogi.

PK hints that he is being aided by former clients

officer and currently he is on central deputa tion.Sources in the bu reaucracy said that if

Earlier the UP gov ernment had approved the VRS of IAS officer Juthika Patankar.

electioneering of Cong?

A face was needed to fight against candidate backed by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi

paign, Tharoor himself had alleged of favorit ism.

The allegations and complaints leveled by Shashi Tharoor and his team, who contested the

election against Mall ikarjun Kharge, have given legitimacy to this election. No one can call this election a mixed game, however, it was actually so. A face was needed to fight against a candidate backed by Sonia and Rahul, who had the image of an in dependent leader.

Shashi Tharoor was meeting this criterion because he was also a member of G23 and used to give statements

from time to time re garding the policies of the party. Now his com plaints will further prove that he was not a proxy candidate, but contested the election of his own free will, with full preparation.

The Congress party wanted to create this message so that no one can call the election of the President as a sham and in this agenda, Con gress has tasted success.

Patna (PTI): Political strategist-turned-activ ist Prashant Kishor on Thursday hinted that he was receiving finan cial assistance for his ‘Jan Suraaj campaign’ in Bihar from his for mer clients, many of whom were now chief ministers of their re spective states.

He made the candid disclosure at a press conference in Valmiki Nagar, a picturesque but remote forest re serve situated along the Indo-Nepal border, about 300 kms from the Bihar capital.

Kishor has been on a ‘padayatra’ since Octo ber 2 and intends to cover 3,500 km on foot, touching every nook and corner of his home state before his cam paign evolves into a full fledged political party.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets outgoing Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong for a farewell call , in New Delhi on Wednesday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

New Delhi (PTI): Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, on Wednesday lauded External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, saying he is impressed by how he positions India’s foreign policy on the world stage amid geopolitical tugs of war.Omar Sultan Al Olama, praised Jaishankar during a conference at a Delhi-based think tank. He had virtually joined union ministers from India and several parlia mentarians.

IAS officer Renuka Kumar

Ahtesham Siddiqui

fairs to IAS Dr Hari om, an officer of the rank of Principal Secretary.

Hari Om is a 1997 batch officer and cur

rently holds the re sponsibility of Princi pal Secretary Social Welfare and Director ST Development.

Monika S Garg

IAS Dr Hari Om

BHARAT JODO YATRA SET TO RESUME IN T’GANA

“MA, NO MATTER WHAT WORLD SAYS...” PRIYANKA

Ashok Gehlot with Bhupesh Baghel, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Deepender Singh Hooda and Ajay Maken and party members attend the charge-taking ceremony of newly elected party president Mallikarjun Kharge, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Delhi sees cleanest day after-Diwali since 2015

New Delhi (Agen cies): This year, the day after Diwali has seen the cleanest air in Delhi since 2015. This, despite the AQI remaining in the ‘very poor’ category on both Diwali and the day after, with pollu tion levels recording a surge when firecrack ers were set off in viola tion of Delhi govern ment’s ban.

The AQI (air quality index) on Diwali day was 312, while it was 303 on Tuesday, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). AQI between 301 and 400 is consid ered to be ‘very poor’.

The AQI on Diwali day this year is the cleanest that the city has seen since 2019.

CPCB data available from 2015 onwards shows that the worst post-Diwali air quality was seen last year, when the day after Diwali re corded an AQI of 462, in the ‘severe’ category.

The AQI on Diwali day last year was 382. Since 2015, there have been four years when the day after Diwali saw ‘se vere’ air quality.

Meteorological con ditions played a role in the improved air quali ty this time. Gufran Beig, founder project

director, SAFAR, said that wind speed helped prevent the accumula tion of pollutants and an early Diwali this year meant that the temperature is still rel atively warm.

“Wind speed picked up around 2 am on Tuesday. In the early hours of the morning, pollutants would have normally accumulated, when the temperature is cooler and the bound ary layer comes down and winds become slow er. But the wind speed picked up, aiding dis persion. The highest AQI levels were record ed around midnight, after which it improved and settled at 323 in the morning,” Beig said.

“It appears that there may have been a reduc tion in firecracker emissions compared to last year,” Beig said.

It appears that there may have been a reduction in firecracker emissions compared to last year. The air quality did not deteriorate as much as it could have.

—Gufran Beig, SAFAR project director

Delhi LG allows Chhath Puja at designated ghats

New Delhi (ANI): Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has given his nod to hold Chhath Puja at designated ghats on the Yamu na and directed the officials to ensure basic amenities along with adequate security.

"Having perused the note of the Minister (Revenue) on pre page as endorsed by Chief Minister, I approve the proposal for allowing "Chhath Ghats" at the "Designated River Ya muna Ghats" subject to the strict adherence to the directions/orders issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and by the National Mission for Clean Ganga in this context. It may also be ensured that the designated Ghats are properly cleaned, basic amenities are provided and security con cerns are taken care of," the Gov ernor said. The LG directed the officials of the Revenue Depart ment, Environment Department and concerned authorities to ensure strict enforcement of the above orders to protect the environment.

53 wagons of coal train derail

Patna (Agencies): In Bihar rail traffic on Gaya – Dhanbad section has been disrupted fol lowing the derailment of 53 wagons of a coalladen goods train.

The derailment took place at 6.24 this morn ing at Gurpa station be tween Koderma and Manpur railway sta tions of Dhanbad divi sion. The rail traffic was disrupted on the Up and Down lines after the accident.

Bijapur (ANI): The BJP on Wednesday took a jibe at AIMIM presi dent Asaduddin Owaisi over his remark that he wishes to see a hijabwearing woman as the Prime Minister of In dia. Addressing the press Owaisi had also said the BJP wants to eradicate secularism and is against equal op portunity for all in the country. BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla said, "Owai si ji hopes that a hijabwearing girl becomes PM of India! Well, Con stitution bars nobody but do tell us when will a Hijab-wearing girl get to become the President of AIMIM."

28 dead in B’desh cyclone, millions without power

Dhaka (Agencies): Bangladesh rescue workers found the bod ies of four missing crew of a dredger boat, taking the death toll from Cyclone Sitrang to 28 as millions re mained without power, officials said on Wednesday (Oct 26).

Cyclones - the equiv alent of hurricanes in the Atlantic or ty phoons in the Pacificare a regular menace in the region but scien tists say climate change is likely mak ing them more intense and frequent. Cyclone Sitrang made landfall in southern Bangla desh on Monday but authorities managed to get about a million peo ple to safety before the monster storm hit.

With winds of 80kmh, it still left a trail of dev astation in the coun try's densely populated, low-lying coastal re gion, which is home to tens of millions of peo ple. The government said nearly 10,000 tinroofed homes were ei ther "destroyed or dam aged" and crops on large swathes of farm land were wrecked at a

time of record-high food inflation.

Fire department di vers found the bodies of four crew of a dredg er boat that sank dur ing the storm in the Bay of Bengal. "We found one body on Tuesday night and three more this morning. Four crew are still missing," Abdullah Pasha from the fire department.

VP pays obeisance at Golden Temple

Amritsar (ANI): VicePresident Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednes day offered prayers at the sanctum sancto rum of the Golden Temple here. Dhankhar, who also partook in the 'langar' (community kitchen), was accorded a warm welcome by Shiroma ni Gurdwara Parband hak Committee (SGPC) chief Har jinder Singh Dhami.

Dhami had earlier told the media that the apex gurdwara body

lease of 'Bandi Singhs' (Sikh prisoners). He had said this issue was the "most important for the community as Sikh prisoners had not been released even after they had completed their sentences".

Nuclear option should not be resorted: Singh

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Sin gh on Wednesday told his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu that the Ukraine conflict should be resolved through dia logue and diplomacy and the nuclear option should not be resorted to by any side. In tele phonic talks, Shoigu briefed Singh on the evolving situation in Ukraine, including his concerns about possible “provocations through use of ‘dirty bomb’”, de fence ministry said.

The conversation took

place at the initiative of Russian defence minis ter amid escalation of hostilities between Rus sia and Ukraine. It said the two ministers also discussed bilateral de fence cooperation as well as deteriorating situation in Ukraine.

Ramnagara (Karna taka) (Agencies): The 45-year-old Lingayat seer in Karnataka who died by suicide on Monday was “hon eytrapped” and being blackmailed over “obscene video calls” with a woman, police today said.

"Two names in the

would also give a mem orandum to the vicepresident for the re

Last month, the SGPC had sought time from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a meeting to discuss the issue of the release of Sikh prisoners.

UP hospital in platelets row to be demolished

Prayagraj (PTI): The authorities here have ordered the demolition of a private hospital where a dengue patient died after being trans fused with what the family claimed was sweet lime juice and not blood platelets.

Prayagraj District Magistrate Sanjay Ku mar Khatri said that report of the sample col lected from the hospital revealed that platelets and not sweet lime juice

suicide note are con nected to the mutt," in vestigators have said.

“The private mo ments of the woman (unidentified so far) and the seer were captured by the woman using her phone's screen-record ing function,” the sources said.

was transfused to the patient. He, however, charged Global Hospital with laxity in the transfusion process,

saying the reports showed the platelets were stored in an im proper way which might have led to clotting.

"POORLY PRESERVED" PLATELETS, NOT MOSAMBI JUICE: UP OFFICIAL ON DEATH Lucknow (Agencies): Days after the family of a dengue patient in UP alleged that he died because he was intravenously given 'mosambi' or sweet lime juice instead of blood platelets, triggering widespread outrage, a senior government official on Wednesday denied the claim. Sanjay Khatri, the District Magistrate of Prayagraj, on Wednes day said they had found that the patient had been given a packet of "poorly preserved" platelets. "We had formed a three-member team to probe the incident. Their report found that the patient had been given poorly preserved platelets. We are tak ing action based on this information," Khatri said.

Kerala Guv writes to CM, says fire FM

Thiruvananthapuram (Agencies): Kerala Gov ernor Arif Mohammed Khan has written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, demanding the dismissal of Finance Minister KN Balagopal over recent remarks at a university, which he said were “seditious”.

In his letter to the CM the Governor alleged

ELECTORAL

that Mr Balagopal deliv ered a speech at a cam pus in Thiruvanan

thapuram last week, seeking to “stoke the fire of regionalism and provincialism and un dermining the unity of India”. According to re ports, minister KN Bala gopal had said at the function that “those who come from places like UP, may find it tough to understand universities in Kerala.”

Thiruvananthapuram (Agencies): Protests are growing against actions of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on his actions on state-run universities. Recently, the Governor issued a showcause notice to VCs of nine universities, asking them to step down.

Will BJP ‘honor’ Mulayam in Mainpuri by-election?

Sharat K Verma

New Delhi: By-elec tions may be announced soon in the Mainpuri seat, which was vacated by the death of Sama jwadi Party founder Mu layam Singh Yadav. This election will be very in teresting. One reason for this is the suspense over who will contest the election from the family of Netaji i.e. Mu layam Singh and sec ondly what will the

Bharatiya Janata Party and Samajwadi Party do? Will the BJP field a candidate for Netaji’s seat against any mem ber of his family in the by-election? Right now, citing tradition in Ma harashtra, the party has not fielded a candidate against the wife of late MLA Ramesh Latte. Can this happen in Mainpuri seat of Uttar Pradesh also? The question is be ing raised in view of the kind of affection shown

QUESTION RAISED

which is his heritage. Before that it has to be decided as to who will contest the election from Mulayam Singh’s family. So far Dharmen dra Yadav is considered to be the strongest con tender. He was earlier MP from Badaun from where he lost last time.

by top BJP leaders to wards Mulayam Singh on his death and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi said that Mulayam Singh had blessed him,

Recently, Akhilesh Ya dav resigned from Azamgarh seat, Dhar mendra Yadav fought from there but he lost by close to 10 thousand

votes in this seat which was a stronghold of the party. So, now his name is being considered from Mainpuri. Tej Pratap Yadav, the grandson of Mulayam Singh, was once an MP from Main puri. He is also the son-in-law of Lalu Prasad. So, he also has a claim on this seat. The name of Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav is also discussed but it is less likely that she will fight.

Chennai (PTI): A probe by the National Investiga tion Agency (NIA) into the Coimbatore explosion case would be recommended to the Centre, the Tamil Nadu government said here on Wednesday. The state govern ment also announced raising a special police force to foil sabotage and bolster its intelligence wing.

Kedarnath (ANI): The sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath Dham has been decorated with gold. The walls and ceiling of the sanctum sanctorum have been given a new look with 550 gold layers. The gold layering has provided the sanctum sanctorum a more attractive look. Temple Committee President Ajendra Ajay said that the work of golden deco ration of the sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath temple was completed this morning.

TAMIL NADU TO HAND OVER COIMBATORE EXPLOSION CASE PROBE TO NIA

KEDARNATH DHAM'S SANCTUM SANCTORUM DECORATED WITH 550 GOLD LAYERS

CRUCIAL READ

Late former UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav —FILE PHOTO

The AQI on Diwali day this year is the cleanest that the city has seen since 2019

Raisina Hills is barely visible due to dense smog as air quality remains in the 'severe' category, in New Delhi. —FILE PHOTO

Cyclone Sitrang crossed the Bangladesh coast on Monday taking the death toll to 28. —PHOTO BY PTI

“Hijab-wearing woman will become PM”

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar along with his wife Sudesh Dhankhar and SGPC officials pose for photographs as they pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

‘A woman has hone this to me,’ behind seer’s death

The patient was being treated at Global Hospital in Jhalwa locality of Prayagraj.

New Delhi: The govern ment is planning to launch the fourth tranche of Bharat Bond ETF, In dia’s first corporate bond exchange traded fund, in December, an official said. The funds raised would be utilised for un dertaking capital expendi tures by public sector en terprises. “We are cur rently in discussion with CPSEs and assessing their needs. The issue size for the fourth tranche of Bharat Bond ETF could probably be close to last year’s,” the official said.

Premium products lift festive sale spirit

New Delhi (PTI): Premi um and mid-end products have lifted sales of consum er durables and FMCG items this festive season amid inflation woes, ac cording to industry players.

Industry body Consumer Electronics and Applianc es Manufacturers Associa tion (CEAMA) said the sec tor is estimated to clock volume growth of 20% and value growth of over 30%.

“Overall mid and pre mium product sales have done well this festive sea son. The mid and premium segment has witnessed around 30% volume growth

at least and value growth between 40 to 50% this fes tive season. The last three days were great for mid

Govt nudges LIC to tweak its product strategy

New Delhi (PTI): The gov ernment is nudging LIC to tweak its product strategy to maximise profitability in a bid to help the coun try’s largest insurer real ise its full growth potential and yield better returns for investors, an official said.

participating products or term plans to improve profitability.

and premium products,” CEAMA President Eric Braganza said.

However, he said, “Sales

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

z Industry body CEAMA said the sector is estimated to clock volume growth of 20 percent and value growth of over 30 percent

z The decline in sales of entry-level products is primarily due to upgrading by consumers and also stress witnessed in the rural market

of entry-level products are down by 10-15% this festive season.”

The decline in sales of

entry-level products is pri marily due to upgrading by consumers and also stress witnessed in the rural market.

Panasonic Marketing In dia Managing Director Fumiyasu Fujimori said consumers are looking for a premium range of appli ances and the company ex pects double-digit growth this festive season, led by smart ACs, large-screen TVs and the home appli ances category.

“In terms of value growth invertor ACs re corded 38% growth, overall LEDs grew by 10% whereas

Fin Ministry extends ITR filing deadline for Cos till November 7

4K TVs grew by 34%. Our top-load washing machines registered 13% growth this festive season,” he said.

The company is seeing a rise in demand for appli ances that are easy to use (allowing users to multitask), energy-efficient, con nected (smart), and healthy and hygienic.

Consumers have become conscious of their choices and value-proposition pre mium appliances are tak ing precedence in their purchase decisions.

“This growth trend is here to stay,” he said on Wednesday.

25cr+ e-KYC transactions carried out using Aadhaar in Sept

New Delhi: Close to 14.62 lakh new members joined the ESIC-run social security scheme in Au gust 2022, according to official data. It showed that the gross new enrol ments with ESIC rose to 1.49 crore in 2021-22, from 1.15 crore in 202021. According to the re port, net new enrolments with EPFO stood at 16.94 lakh in August 2022. It showed that from Sep tember 2017 to August 2022, around 5.81 crore (gross) new subscribers joined the scheme.

MEDANTA BRAND’S GLOBAL HEALTH IPO TO OPEN ON NOV 3

LIC has been trading be low the issue price of `949 a share ever since it got listed on stock exchanges on May 17.

It listed at `872 apiece on NSE. The finance ministry in its performance review has been sensitising the LIC management about the steps that could be taken to bet ter investor wealth and fo cus on non-

“With the listing of LIC, the process of modernisa tion of the over 65-year-old institution has started. We are working with the man agement so that they mod ernise their product offer ing and lower dividend payout to policyholders,” the official said.

“The younger genera tion is more inclined to term plan. LIC will have to rework their strategy and decide what should be done so that their asset under management is utilised to its full poten tial,” the official added.

New Delhi (PTI): The Fi nance Ministry on Wednes day extended the deadline for filing income tax re turns for the assessment year 2022-23 by businesses till November 7.

The last date for filing ITR by companies who are required to get their accounts audited was October 31.

The Central Board of Di rect Taxes (CBDT), the apex decision-making body in matters of income and corporate tax, in a notifica tion said since it had last month extended the dead line for filing audit reports, hence the ITR filing due date too is extended.

“CBDT... Extends the due date of furnishing of Re turn of Income under sub-

Air India Express to lease 2 Boeing 737 planes from Vistara

New Delhi: The initial share-sale of Global Health Limited, which op erates and manages hos pitals under the Medanta brand, will open for public subscription on Novem ber 3. The initial public offering (IPO) will con clude on November 7, ac cording to the red herring prospectus (RHP). Ac cording to merchant banking sources, the IPO size could be about `2,200 crore. The IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregat ing to `500 crore, and an Offer-For-Sale (OFS) of up to 5.08 crore equity shares.

HOUSING SALES MAY HIT RECORD 3.6 LAKH UNITS THIS YEAR

Mumbai (PTI): Budget airline Air India Express is looking to lease two Boeing 737 aircraft from full-ser vice carrier Vistara to offer more flights during the winter schedule, according to a source.

Both Air India Express and Vistara are part of the Tata group, which also has Air India and AirAsia In dia under its wings.

The source close to the development said the two narrow-body planes are ex pected to be inducted into the Air India Express fleet on a short-term lease in No vember and December, re spectively.

The move is part of con

AIR INDIA EXPRESS & TATA

z Both Air India Express and Vistara are part of the Tata group, which also has Air India and AirAsia India under its wings.

Tata group took over Air India and Air India Express in January this year

solidating as well as tap ping the synergies in the group’s airline business.

Also, the leasing of the planes will help Air India Express to operate more flights during the winter schedule, which starts from October 30, the source said.

When contacted, a Vista

z The two narrow-body planes are expected to be inducted into the Air India Express fleet on a short-term lease in November and Dec, resp

z The move is part of consolidating as well as tapping the synergies in the group’s airline business

ra spokesperson said, “we cannot comment on specu lations”.

Tata group took over Air India and Air India Ex press in January this year after emerging as the win ning bidder in the disin vestment process that con cluded last year.

section (1) of section 139 of the Act for the Assessment Year 2022-23, which is Octo ber 31, 2022... To November 7, 2022,” the CBDT notifica tion said.

Domestic companies are required to file their in come tax returns by Octo ber 31, 2022, for the Finan

Again, states borrowing cost again rises

Mumbai (FIB): After a fall in the previous week, the market-funding cost for the states continues to go up, with the latest auc tion seeing the average cut-off rate or yield jump ing by as much as 12 bps to 7.84%, but for the Centre, it remained flat.

After rising for four weeks in a row, the average price that the states pay to their debt investors fell by 11 bps to 7.72% at the auc tions held on October 18.

The weighted average cut-off rose by 12 bps to 7.84% from 7.72% in the last auction, with a rise in weighted average tenor to 13 years from 12 years, Adi ti Nayar, of Icra said.

Sprite becomes bn-$ brand in Indian mkt

New Delhi: Housing sales are likely to hit an all-time high this year at 3.6 lakh units in seven major cities on a strong demand across all price categories despite hardening of in terest rates on home loans and property rates, according to Anarock. The previous high was re corded in 2014 when housing sales stood at 3,42,980 units across pri mary markets of DelhiNCR, MMR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hy derabad and Pune.

New Delhi (PTI): Global soft drinks major Coca-Co la Company said its lemon and lime-flavoured soft drink Sprite has become a billion-dollar brand in the Indian market.

The company has record ed a “strong” volume growth in its India business in the third quarter of 2022, helped by its sparkling soft drinks portfolio and fruit drink brand Maaza.

Coca-Cola Company

Chairman and CEO James Quincey said, “Trademark Coke delivered strong growth through effective execution and occasion-

based marketing.”

“We drove 2.5 billion transactions in India at af fordable price points through the expansion of returnable glass bottles and single-serve PET pack

COCA-COLA IN INDIA

z India is the fifth-largest

Coca-Cola

z Earlier in January this year, Coca-Cola had said its Indian soft drink brand Thums Up had become a billion-dollar

cial Year 2021-2022.

The due date to file ITR will be November 30, 2022, for companies which are subject to transfer pricing norms.

Last month, the CBDT extended the deadline for filing audit reports by 7 days till October 7.

OTHER STORIES

IRDAI SETS UP HEALTH INSURANCE CONSULTATIVE CMTE

New Delhi: Regulator Irdai on Wednesday announced to set up a 15-mem ber Health Insurance Consultative Committee with an aim to achieve the goal of universalisation of health insurance in the country. The committee, headed by Irdai member Rakesh Joshi, has been tasked to identify the challenges in carrying out the health insurance business smoothly and make recom mendations to facilitate ease of doing business.

New Delhi (PTI): Over 25 crore e-KYC transactions were carried out using Aad haar in September, almost 7.7% higher than the levels seen in August, according to an official release.

An e-KYC transaction is done with the explicit con sent of the Aadhaar holder, and eliminates physical paperwork, and in-person verification requirement for KYC. “In September alone, 25.25 crore e-KYC transactions were executed via Aadhaar, almost 7.7% jump in such transactions when compared with Au gust,” the release said.

The cumulative number of e-KYC transactions through Aadhaar so far has increased to 1,297.93 crore.

DLF TO LAUNCH NEW PROPERTIES WORTH `3.5K CRORE IN FY23

New Delhi: Realty major DLF plans to launch new projects worth `3,500 crore during the second half of this fis cal, mainly in Gurugram and Panchkula as it seeks to tap a rising demand. DLF informed that the com pany plans to launch residen tial projects across Gurugram and Panchkula by March 2023 after getting requisite approv als from authorities. The com pany plans to launch around 3 million square feet area across residential projects.

COAI ROOTS FOR ‘SAME SERVICE, SAME RULES’ FOR PARITY WITH OTT COMM SERVICES

New Delhi: Telecom operators’ association COAI has made a strong pitch for ‘same service, same rules’ with regard to OTT communication services, arguing that a level playing field needs to be maintained for all technologies. “...

There is a need to ensure a level playing field among all technologies, that is Same Service Same Rules with respect to OTT Communication Services, so that fair and healthy competition prevails in the industry,” Cellular Operators’ Associa tion of India (COAI) said.

TATA STEEL INKS PACT WITH FORD TO SUPPLY GREEN STEEL

INVESTMENTS IN ENERGY STORAGE, SMART GRID UP 66%

ages,” he noted.

“Sprite has grown to be come a billion-dollar brand in the market, driven by the success of locally adapted, occasion-based global marketing cam

paigns and screen time,” said Quincey.

Earlier in January, CocaCola had said its Indian soft drink brand Thums Up had become a billion-dollar brand in 2021.

New Delhi: Tata Steel has inked an agreement with American carmaker Ford to supply “zer emis green steel” from its Nether lands-based IJmuiden plant after the unit shifts to hydrogen-based steel making. “Tata Steel Nederland has signed a MoU with Ford in Europe to supply the carmaker with Zeremis green steel once the IJmuiden steelworks switches to green hydrogen-based steelmaking,” a statement said.

New Delhi: Investments in the energy storage and smart grid globally grew 66% year-onyear to record $25 billion in Jan-Sept pe riod this year, according to a Mercom Capital report. The funding includes those through venture capital, public market financing and debt financing. “Total corporate funding for energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency companies in 9M 2022 was record $25 bn compared to $15.1 bn in 9M 2021.

ESIC SCHEME ADDS 14.62 LAKH NEW MEMBERS IN AUGUST

With a ‘rubber stamp’ tag, Kharge’s real challenge is to ensure accessibility to Rahul & making young Gandhis hear to his advices as well: Dr Chandra

Editor-in-Chief of Bharat24 and First India, Dr Jagdeesh Chandra takes a look at the ascendence of Mallikarjun Kharge to the top post in Congress party and the problems associated with it. Dr Chandra also explains in detail how Gehlot’s Presidency would have eased much of Congress’ problems, how Rahul Gandhi will continue to stay the ‘definitive voice’ in Congress and why it will be extremely difficult for a 80-year-old Kharge to handle the Gandhis while also ensuring the party runs smoothly. Excerpts... (Part-1)

z With the tag of be ing a ‘Rubber Stamp President’, how effec tive do you think Mallikarjun Kharge would be as the new Congress President?

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra: It is not merely a tag, it is a reality. He is one hundred percent a rub ber stamp president who will be remotely controlled either by 10, Janpath (Sonia Gan dhi’s residence) or 12, Tughlak Lane (Rahul Gandhi’s residence) and there is nothing bad about it. Congress cant function, let along run, without the Gan dhis and therefore, even Kharge has said that there is no shame in taking advice or hold ing consultations with the Gandhi family ma triarch. He is the most dignified, decent and senior face of Congress and you can say that he is the most safe nomi nee of Gandhis’. Al though Rahul Gandhi had said prior to elec tion said that it would not be honourable to call Kharge and Tha roor as remote control presidents, but you know, in politics, some times denial amounts to confirmation. So yes, Kharge is a remote con trolled president. And this is also a fact that without Gandhis Con gress can not exist. But their working is such that Congress govern ment is left in only two states. And the tragedy is that no one other than Gandhis can actu ally take the Congress forward and ensure its resurgence. Secondly, you asked how effective as a president Kharge would be. That is a sepa rate question and I think even the Gandhis do not have any second thoughts about Kharge’s effectiveness. If you want to assess or evaluate this new presi dent in terms of perfor mance or capacity to handle a position of this stature and in terms of his capacity to win elections against the likes of Modi and Shah, then you will be

deeply disappointed. I am sure, as far as per formance is concerned, even Gandhis, would not be expecting much out of him. Its just a full time Congress presi dent sitting at AICC which was the function al requirement of Gan dhis. It was Rahul’s stubborn demand for an outsider to become Con gress president as he did not want to take di rect responsibility or let Priyanka take the mantle, so they brought an outsider. Secondly they wanted an individ ual who would appear to be non-controversial and balanced and from among the Congress’ clout, this individual appears balanced and without sides. So as far as performance is con cerned, at this age of 80 years, don’t expect much out of him.

z An outsider has come to helm of Con gress, but a huge sec tion of the party con siders that Congress will face major loss in Ashok Gehlot not taking over as party president. Also, how did this entire jour ney of new Congress president, right from Ashok Gehlot to Kharge, happened?

Congress has surely faced a major loss since Ashok Gehlot was unanimous face and is a face of north India. Congress is basically a party of north-India. As far as loyalty and com fort level is concerned, between Gehlot and Kharge, even though Kharge has been with the Gandhis for fifty years, but there is no equal or parallel to Ashok Gehlot. Today Sonia Gandhi can not feel as comfortable or easy with Kharge as much she can with Ge hlot. The, Kharge is merely a face or a lead er, but he is not a re source manager, who plays an important role in politics. Gandhis have an understanding and a wavelength with Ashok Gehlot and they say it too that they

shared such a relation or bond with late Ahmed Patel or Ashok Gehlot. The situation changes and Gehlot could not become Presi dent. So definitely it has been Congress’ loss that Gehlot has not become President and the most loss has been incurred by Sonia Gandhi. Eve rybody here has been a loser in this and even Ashok Gehlot too. A north Indian leader could not ascend to the party’s presidency, hav ing started from Jodh pur district President and reaching to these heights and if, as Presi dent, he would have walked along side Ra hul Gandhi, that would have been a powerful spectacle. He has a stat ure and a persona and he always stands with Gandhis and he could even get decisions done by Gandhis. So every one is a loser in this sense and in totality Congress party has lost much more. Secondly, you as ked about se quence of events which started from Gehlot and ended at Kharge. As far as I know, it has been an

ty. So he agreed and af ter a month he said he is going to file nomina tion. But when the time for nomination came, the Rajasthan fiasco happened and fate had something else in mind. So he later met Sonia Gandhi and even dur ing the Rajasthan cri sis, Sonia was of the firm belief that Gehlot is more suitable as par ty president. When the crisis happened Sonia Gandhi asked him as to why he didn’t believe in her and why did he think that a single line proposal would come for Pilot, so he said he was sorry and said he was hurt. My guess is Gehlot too must have felt bad. At that mo ment, Sonia Gandhi again asked him to be come party president, but, it has come to my knowledge, that Gehlot said it would not be pru dent for him to become party president in such a situation. He came back to Jodhpur house and announced he wont be contesting. This was part one of the se quence wherein Ashok

Gehlot moved out of the race. Second part starts when the vacancy for presidency candidate occurred and on the op posite end was Shashi Tharoor. He could not be given the reins and someone had to be ap pointed, so suo-moto Digvijaya Singh be came active and his team rushed to Delhi. Singh though that since Gehlot isn’t the one, then he (Digvijaya) is the best person. So peo ple became active and by nightfall it turned out that he would file nomination the very next day. But it is poli tics and there are groups against Digvi jaya Singh in Congress and as such it is said there are two groups in Congress, one is pre2000, that includes old and senior leaders, and another is post-2000, which include young guns and favours Ra hul. This young bri gade, it is said, pre pared a dossier of all controversial state ments of Digvijaya Sin gh and ended up, what in politics is called as Karseva. So that hap pened and prior to this gopal and stressed on his candidature as to cancy who cant he be a candidate. KC told him to speak to Sonia Gandhi but before he could meet and

speak with Sonia, this development happened. So next day Singh was to speak to Sonia and the night before, an emergency meeting oc curred at Manmohan Singh’s home where Ge hlot too was present and the leaders mulled on who after Gehlot could taken the mantle. Gehlot was again asked to become President, and it shows the indis pensability of Ashok Gehlot and even after so much came to pass, the party was still looking at him. He again, with folded hands, said sorry. And that is when the name of Mallikarjun Kharge came forward as a proposal, where Ge hlot too played a role. There was no other op tion and all leaders were in agreement on his name since he is a Dalit, has been in poli tics for past five dec ades, has never courted controversy and is hon est among other quali ties of his. When Shashi Tharoor went to meet Sonia, she said its you choice. So that is how the events unfolded and Kharge won the elec tion.

z Rahul Gandhi said that Kharge is his new boss and will de cide on his new role. Do you think it will be so?

See, on the face value this statement perhaps highlights what Rahul may have wanted. Ra hul is different from Priyanka and Sonia, perhaps because he studied in a British in stitution, where a dif ferent mind-set and ide ology is forged. Rahul is a decent person and he must not have though on these grounds. I think that although what he has said he would mean and not merely say it for politi cal optics, but in reality,

it will boil down to face value. So what ever has to be done, will be done by Rahul Gandhi, Pri yanka Gandhi and to some extent, Sonia Gan dhi as well. So you can say that it is merely a formality, although it can be well intentioned formality, or a ritual, but this does not hold any meaning because everyone knows who will take the ultimate call.

z What is the mes sage behind Sonia Gandhi leaving 10, Janpath and reach ing 10, Rajaji Marg, the residence of Mall ikarjun Kharge, spe cially when 10, Jan path, for all practical purposes, came to be known as the Con gress headquarters?

Message is that it is So nia Gandhi’s nobility and also, at times when a person gets free from the burden, then too they show such large hearted approach. Ask Ashok Gehlot, he has had so much to deal with like Pilot factor and pressures created by other leaders. There are other chief minis ters too and only they know how to make things work, similarly, Collectors or SPs or any official for that matter knows how they get things done. And then a time comes when per son lets everything go or keeps it aside and fo cuses on living peace fully. So perhaps Sonia may have had this thought in her mind too that she is out of it now and she must be happy that now a good indi vidual will be handling the work, so it has sent a good message. It wasn’t a PR exercise rather a well inten tioned move and every one in the party liked it. But ultimately what ever happens, the ulti

mate result of all this exercise is zero, since whether it is Kharge or anyone else, Congress is in no situation to counter the onslaught of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

z Although Mallikar jun Kharge has sever al challenges before him, but perhaps the biggest challenge for him is to strike syner gy with Priyanka Gandhi. How do you assess that situation? Handling three bosses will be a challenge for anyone and this is why Kamal Nath back tracked. But the biggest challenge is Rahul Gan dhi because there is no accessibility. Moreover, he is currently on his Bharat Jodo Yatra so how many times can anyone contact him un abated. Some decisions are to be taken after per sonally meeting some one. And when a party functions, one has to speak to the president several times a day. Here by president I mean the real president which is Rahul Gandhi. Secondly, he does not take direct responsibility and when asked he asks the person to take their call, so how will it work. Thirdly he is like a reluctant bride and so Kharge would also mull on these things and think that how and why would he stress with Rahul Gandhi go ing beyond a point. As far as Priyanka is con cerned, if they get a few decisions done by her, then she is also not sure that Rahul will be okay with them. So yes, there is a challenge before Kharge in handling the Gandhi family, but I am sure he will handle it.

TO BE CONTINUED...

During the show #JConMallikarjunkharge trended top All-India on Twitter

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra with (R-L) Poornima Mishra, Mimansa Malik, Aditi Nagar, Tripti Arora and Sachin Arora during The New JC Show.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra during The New JC Show.

DIVINE, DELIGHT & DIWALI

Celebrities were seen out and about in their traditional best as they celebrated the festival of lights. City First brings to you some glimpses of the lavish Diwali bash

iwali is the festival of light, love and happi ness. Diwali moti vates us to be better people and to share our joy with the world. The new dress es, gifts, bright lights, flow ers, foods, and the chanting of mantras sum up, excite ment is in the air. But it’s not just the dresses and gifts which bring happiness to our surroundings, it’s the sense of belonging, the connection that we all feel with each oth er during these festivals. This festival is often the reason for bringing the family together, making friends and celebrat ing the very spirit of man kind and spreading happi ness. To mark the auspicious occasion Bollywood stars threw momentous Diwali bashes to celebrate the festi val of light. This year, the fes tivities kicked off with a scin tillating bash thrown by Ayushmann Khurrana and his wife Tahira Kashyap. All the big names of Hindi show biz turned up with their fash

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

(L-R) Ananya Pandey, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kiara Advani, Manish Malhotra and Sara Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan and Kareen Kapoor Khan with their cute son Taimur

Anshula Kapoor and Janhvi Kapoor

(L-R) Natasha Dhawan, Karuna Dhawan and Varun Dhawan

(L-R) Katrina Kaif, Manish Malhotra and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

(L-R) Anushka Sharma, Bhumi Pednekar, Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan

It is tough to understand the feelings, emotions, and affection shared by siblings. Some particu lar days or occasions, on the other hand, are dedicated to strength ening the bond between a brother and a sister. Bhaiya Dooj is one such occasion that can characterise siblings' un dying love (brother and sister). This delightful holiday is a vi tal time for sisters to pray to God for their loving brother's longevity, well-being and pros perity. The event takes place following the two-day Diwali holiday. The occasion oc curs on the second day of the Shukla Paksha of the Kartika month. City First brings to you some delectable recipes for fes tive cuisine to commemorate the love-filled relationship be tween brothers and sisters.

FLAVOURS For Royalty

Gulab Kheer is a unique delicacy with a rose flavour. It's a traditional yet unique sweet dish made with full cream milk, basmati rice, condensed milk, dry rose petals, rose water and sugar. We are confident that your brother will fall in love with this delectable delicacy.

hour, is a

TAWA SABZ PULAO

CHAAT BOARD

A charcuterie board but with chaat! Interesting, isn’t it? Instead of just preparing pani puri, dahi bhalla, or papdi chaat, why not make an entire board of chaats? A chaat board can in clude samosas, pani puris, and papdi chaats drizzled with chutneys and curd.

RASMALAI

It’s one of the most delectable classic sweet meals that may be prepared at any moment. This delectable treat is created with paneer, milk, sugar, saffron, almonds, and pistachios.

KESARI SHRIKHAND

Kesar shrikhand, one of Gujarat's most delight ful foods, is created with thick yoghurt, con densed milk, sugar, cardamom and saffron. Garnish the dish with dry fruits and serve cold. This Bhai Dooj, finish your celebration with this delectable, creamy dessert.

a

that can be made in

treat you don’t want to miss.

Tawa subz pulao, a fan tastic dish for any grand occasion, is cooked with many sorts of winter veg etables like carrots, beans, cauliflower, and so on. You may top the pulao with mint leaves and fried on ions and relish

SEWAYI

PARFAIT

Try this gorgeous version served in layers in a glass like a parfait instead of conventional sewaiyan! This sewayi parfait, topped with whipped cream, is one to save for your holiday feast.

CHOCOLATE & GINGER PHIRNI

It is another type of phirni with a modern twist for individuals who wish to test out new meals. Cocoa powder, rice flour, milk, dried ginger powder, and whey protein are used to make this phirni. This phirni will appeal to your healthconscious brother because it contains both flavours and protein.

MALAI KOFTA

Malai kofta is a royal delight and one of the most popular meals at

festive and

occasions in India. Malai

paneer

CELEBRATING KHATTA-MEETHA RISHTA

The best thing that ever happened to me was to meet him and since then he has always been there for me, taking care of me, and supporting me, defending me! I couldn't have asked for a better brother.

—SALONI SHARMA

Yesterday, my sisters and I celebrated Bhai Dooj at our nani's house. We had dinner together and then played a round of cards. I was moved to tears by my sister's hand-written letter, which she read out to me.

—YOGESH CHAUHAN

I and my cousins have planned a two-day Pushkar trip for bhai dooj this year. We’re leaving tomorrow morning and it’s a road trip! I am looking forward to one amazing Bhai Dooj celebration on the hills. A fun trip with my cousins is all that I needed this year.

—PRIYANSHU

After fighting for an entire day, we very peacefully completed the rituals of Bhai dooj, thanks to me. He gave me chocolates as a present and ate my Donut in return. Even though he troubles me a lot, I am always happy when he is around.

Hindus celebrate the unwaver ing love between a brother and a sister on Bhai Dooj or Bhaiya Dooj. In an effort to deepen their link, Bhai Dooj defines the enduring affec tion between siblings. Sis ters pray to God for their beloved brother’s long life, good health, and prosperity on this auspicious day. The sisters celebrate the event by applying a tilak or a vermilion mark to the forehead of their broth ers, followed by an aarti of him, while carrying a decorated thali filled with treats, roli, and coconut. Then they fill their bellies with sweets, and in response, the broth ers shower them with gifts and blessings. On the very final day of the five-day celebration of lights, Diwali, the festival is observed. It’s also said that after defeating the demon Narakasura, Lord Krish na went to see his sister Subhadra, who welcomed him by donning a ti lak. City First brings to you some highlights from the festival of love!

Honestly, Bhai dooj is no different than Raksha Bandhan for us brothers. They are just two days of us loosing our hard-earned money for a cupcake in return. Yes, I am not earning right now but you need to focus on the emotions. My sister’s going to kill me now, haha.

—SPARSH CHOUDHARY

To celebrate Bhai Dooj, we’ll go to our sister’s house. She’ll hopefully prepare some delectable cuisine for us all, just like she did last year. Oreo shake is much awaited. Of course, she will charge a lifafa in return, which is the only sad aspect of the day for me.

—JAYANSH SHARMA

This year I celebrated Bhai Dooj by going out on a lunch with my cousins. Because of the Diwali holidays, everyone was in Jaipur and therefore nobody was missing in the celebration. We had a great time, took loads of photos, and shared some delicious meals.

—SAMIT GUPTA

Being the eldest among my cousins means that I harbour most of their unconditional love and attention while! Most people view it as a responsibility but they make me feel 12 again! Even that day when we asked Alexa to play ‘Rakhi Bandhan’ songs (yeah, the mistake was purposive :D ) and spoiled each other’s tilaks, we didn’t care about the worries that flood ourselves but basked in the moment that God solely wrote for us. I’m so blessed to have y’all in my life.

—DISHA AJMANI

City First brings to you glimpses of the festival that celebrates the love-hate relationship of brothers and sisters across the nation as they dive into this special day of joy and love.

KHUSHI TAMBI cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

—SHIKSHA

Saloni Khandelwal and Avi Jain

Yogesh Chauhan with his mother Lad Kanwar Chauhan and sisters Jyotsana Chauhan & Pooja Chauhan

Rakshavya Sharma and Priyanshu

Shiksha and Jhankrit

Disha and Nishan Ajmani

Samit Gupta and Family during Bhai Dooj celebration

Agrima Sharma and Jayansh Sharma

Raghav Katta and Sparsh Choudhary

JOURNEY TILL HERE WAS NEVER EASY: NIKITA DUTTA

days I participated in a beau ty pageant post which I got a job as a VJ and I realised that being in-front of the camera is what I liked”

Speaking on her journey

Actress Nikita Dutta will be soon seen in Rocket Gang along side Aditya Seal. Di rected by Bosco Martis, the film will hit screens on No vember 11. The actress spoke exclusively to Ashish Tiwari of First India News about her journey, switch from television and more.

Nikita has had a suc cessful stint in the indus try over the years speak ing on the same she said, “ For me it has always been important that even if it’s for a while or throughout If I am on the screen the audi ence should remember me. I always look to carve my niche in the industry and By god’s grace Whatever I have done has left a positive mark on the audience. “

Speaking on how she began her stint she said, “I never thought of this , it’s like even when I was a kid I was told not to watch movies and concentrate on my studies. But I was al ways fond of this and during my college

As Malaika Arora turns 48 on Octo ber 23, social media is filled with birthday wishes for the diva. But the most special one comes from boyfriend and actor Arjun Kapoor who shared a sensuous mirror selfie with his 'Baby' and writes a love-filled birthday wish. Arjun Kapoor took to Instagram to wish his girlfriend Malaika Arora on her birthday. Calling her Yin to his Yang, he asked her to be 'happy and mine'. In no time, fans started swooning over his sweet message, which the 37-year-old actor posted at midnight.

Kirron trolls KJo

Bollywood's Shahenshah Amitabh Bach chan threw a Diwali party at his home after a two-year gap. Karan Johar and Kirron Kher, who previously worked very closely on the reality show India's Got Talent, reconnected at the party last night. The senior actress was seen throwing fun jabs at Karan in a video the director shared as he questioned her about her all-red attire. When Karan asks her, “Aren’t we late for Karwa Chauth?” she says, “You shut up. Tu jo ye Anarkali ban ke aaya hua hai na, thodi der me mu jra andar hone wala hai. Jitni nazakat tum me hai, itni kisi aurat mein nahi hai yahaa pe.”

she shared, “Indeed the journey till here was never easy the most important thing that kept me going was my family support. They have been my support system throughout. Also one needs to be mentally strong to go through the re jections. One also needs to remember why do we start the journey. I always felt sat isfied when i came back home post my shoot and till date that’s been the same for me. Shooting makes me happy”

Speaking on her shift throughout the years she said, “Disappoint ment definitely pulls you down but if you are determined to work ahead it would be just a phase. Acting is acting no matter what the medium is. That’s why I even started working on Television its impor tant to work and make place in the hearts of the

She added, “I have re ceived immense love over the years for my televi sion character and espe cially Kabir Singh so I believe my decision worked very well. It has made me do what I do today. I have learned it over the years”

Sharing how Kabir Singh was the turning point of her career, “ Indeed , this is the beauty of this industry I be lieve whenever work comes you need to do it. I do remem ber when i was working on Kabir Singh we never imag ined that the movie would be loved and appreciated so much . I did the movie be cause i wanted to be associ ated with it the screen time didn’t matter to me” In a very short span, she’s worked with indus try stalwarts speaking on that she said, “ It’s a mix of talent and luck. I feel your thinking should be in the right way. I am very fortunate that I have got the opportu nity to work with them and Have got the chance to learn so much from them “

Sharing her experience of working on Rocket Gang she said, “ We have been working on the film for 3 years , it’s a film where each one of us have put a lot of effort . The experience of doing some thing on the set was incom patible and every scene that i have done in the movie has been a unforgettable experi ence for me”

She added, “The challeng ing bit for me was the dance as I am not a professional dancer. I was the one match ing steps with the profession als. I had to up my game so that I could fit in. Somewhere that was the challenging bit because the bar was set and I had to reach there”

Samantha’s ‘Yashoda’ Trailer to get Pan-India launch!

As Pan-India fe male Superstar Samantha gears up for her first Hindi theatrical release Yashoda on 27th October, biggest Superstars from across the nation join hands to unveil the trail er. The list goes by Vijay Deverakonda in Telugu, Suriya in Tamil, Rakshit Shetty in Kannada, Dul Quer Salman in Malay alam and Varun Dhawan in Hindi.

Amidst the huge buzz on the biggest female-led pan-India theatrical film Yashoda, the makers of the film are leaving no stone unturned to hype the expectations as the trailer will be unveiled nationally with some of the biggest names of the Indian entertainment industries. After the teaser release and a sneak peek announcing the launch date of the trailer, the an ticipation for to morrow's trailer re veal is at an all time high. Turning into a na tional sensation with the blockbuster success of her song 'Oo Antava' from Pushpa and earn ing accolades for her re markable performance in the much acclaimed show 'The Family Man', Samantha is gearing up for her first appearance on Hindi theaters with Yashoda.

Earlier the makers of the film dropped the teaser introducing the audience to the world of

Yashoda, played by Sa mantha leaving every one intrigued with the dark and thrilling back drop of a pregnant woman fighting against all odds.

Playing a gritty Pregnant role in this edge-of-the-set Ac tion Thriller, glimpse of Samantha's Ac tion stunts as Yashoda stunned everyone earlier.

Releasing in 5 languages

Yashoda stars popular Actors Varalaxmi Sarathku mar, Unni Mukundan playing crucial roles with a strong technical crew. Mani Sharma for music, M Sukumar for cinematography and Marthand K Venkatesh as the editor.

Directed by Hari and Harish, Yashoda is produced by Sivalenka Krishna Prasad under the banner of Sridevi Movies is set to release on 11th November 2022.

cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

PC's cosy Diwali celebration

the celebration that saw the trio matching in beige.

Priyanka wore a beige choli and lehenga paired with a similar jacket. Mean while, Nick wore a similar coloured kurta along with Malti looked abso lutely cute in a beige dress. The trio posed to gether as Nick held Malti and Priyanka stood beside him. The next photo saw them during the Diwali puja as their daughter sat on PC's

Birthday Boy Aayush Sharma unleashes his action avatar

On his birthday, on Wednesday Aayush Shar ma treated his fans and followers with an explosive gift, as the actor revealed the teaser for his fourth film AS04. Aayush Sharma's unmatchable swag with stylized ac tion churns the per fect formula of enter tainment, stirring the anticipation for the 2023 release.

Talking about the teaser, Aayush Shar ma said, "AS04 is a

very exciting project and especially launch ing it on my birthday feels like the best birthday gift. The gen re of the film is new for me and I'm having a blast working on it. I play a very inter esting character with a very dis tinct look, style and personality, and I am excited for the au dience to witness this new avatar of me."

The announcement for AS04 comes in soon after Aayush Sharma revealed the

first glimpse teaser of his third film AS03, marking a string of promising films back to back.

Raising the bar of versatility and prom ise higher with each move, Aayush Sharma is leaving no stone un turned to impress the audience with his ded ication and tal ent. Carving his dis tinct identity, Aayush Sharma has estab lished a precedent in the Hindi film indus try with the style of his announcements.

lap as Nick held on to her hand. He wrote in the cap tion, "Such a beautiful Di wali celebration with my Happy Diwali everyone. Sending joy and light to you all. #diwali".

Priyanka and Nick have never missed a sin gle year of Diwali celebra tions and have always thrown grand parties for their LA friends. But this year, the couple opted for a cosier Diwali.

Aayush Sharma

Priyanka Chopra

Karan Johar

Malaika Arora and Arjun Kapoor

Her post...

Nikita Dutta

Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Poster of the film...