New Delhi: The ministry of Defense on Wednesday announced Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) has been appointed as the next Chief of
Staff (CDS). The release also stated that
will also function
Secy
Dept
New Delhi: The PFI has announced that it is dissolving the organisation with immediate effect, a move that followed the Centre’s decision to impose a five-year ban on the organisation and its affiliates and fronts.
In a statement issued Wednesday evening, PFI state general secretary A Abdul Sattar announced that the organisation was being disbanded following the notification by the MHA imposing a ban on it.
During the day, PFI affiliate says will challenge govt’s ban in Supreme Court. P6
Dehradun: Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday said murder case of 19-yr-old Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at a resort near Rishikesh, will be tried in a fast-track court. He also announced Rs 25 lakh as compensation for her kin from Pauri-Garhwal.
SENIOR LAWYER R VENKATARAMANI IS NEW ATTORNEY GENMoni Sharma
New Delhi: The GoI on Wednesday appointed senior advocate R Venkataramani, as the new Attorney General for India for a period of 3 years from the date he enters upon his office. Venkataramani will take over from incumbent AG KK Venugopal whose tenure will expire on tomorrow, September 30.
New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to former NSE head Chitra Ramkrishna and ex-group operating officer Anand Subramanian in the colocation scam case being probed by CBI. Justice SK Jain said he was granting “statutory bail” to the two former officials of NSE.
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Rs 10,000 crore for the redevelopment of the New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mum bai’s Chhatrapati Shiva ji Maharaj Terminus railway stations, Infor mation and Broadcast ing Minister Anurag Thakur said Wednesday.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said all redevelopment of stations will be done in the EPC model and not on PPP mode to ensure that there is no addition al burden on passengers.
“Railways caters to middle class and lower middle class so any ex tra burden on passen gers is not good. So, it has been decided to in vest budget money in the Railways and take it up with investment from govnt. It is a con scious decision to rede velop all these stations in EPC mode,” he said.
Begusarai:
has
LATANew Delhi (ANI): Prime Minister Naren dra Modi paid tribute to Lata Mangeshkar on her 93rd birth anniv on Wednesday by virtually inaugurating an inter section in Ayodhya that has been named after late singer, PMO said.
A towering 40 feet long and 12 feet high sculp ture of a veena engraved with a picture of God dess Saraswati has been installed at the chowk.
Marking the special oc casion, PM Modi paid a touching tribute to her.
New Delhi: In a massive pre-poll jolt to the Congress in HP, party’s working president Harsh Mahajan joined the BJP in New Delhi on Wednesday, in a move that came as a surprise to the grand old organisation bat tling a massive crisis in Rajasthan. Mahajan is a former state Cabinet minister and represent ed Chamba in the Himachal assembly thrice winning consecutively in 1993, 1998 and 2003.
Cabinet on Wednesday ap proved proposal to increase DA for Central govt employ ees and pensioners to 38% of basic pay from 31% previ ously, up 4%, effective July 1, 2022. At the CCEA meeting headed by PM Modi proposal to release an addl install ment of DA was approved. Increase in DA will benefit 47.68L Central govt employ ees, 68.62L pensioners, it also applicable for civilian and defence employees.
UP CM Yogi Adity anath took a decision to name the chowk in Ayo dhya after Bharat Ratna honoree days after she passed away on Feb 6.
Congress comes abuzz that Digvijay Singh could also stand for presidency election. If so, party high command would then have an option and whether or not Gehlot will then file nomination, will be known only after Sonia Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot’s meeting today
Amit Mishra & Aditi Nagarz These revamped stations will be made in tune with the cityscapes
z 199 stations with footfall of 50L people/ day plan in 1st phase
z Tender for over 47 stations out, work is underway at 32 stations
z The cost of the re-development of 3 major stations is over Rs 60,000 crore
The Union Cabinet has announced an extension of the PMGKAY by 3 months from its stipulated deadline of September 30. The exten sion will be from October to December. PMGKAY scheme will cost the govt an additional Rs 80,000 crore till the end of month, putting govt’s estimated expenditure at Rs 2.5 lakh crore for this financial year, a key finance ministry official said. PMGKAY provides free 5kg of food grains per person per month to 80 cr beneficiaries under NFSA.
New Delhi: With sus pense building around the Congress president election and everyone from political opponents, political commentators and observers and even the general public wait ing to learn what the fu ture holds for Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, the three time Chief Minister and sen ior Congress leader reached New Delhi late on Wednesday night, hav
ing flown from Jaipur. At the New Delhi air port, Gehlot was re ceived by Dheeraj Sriv astava and MLA Danish
Abrar. Meanwhile, it is believed that CM Gehlot will be given an audi ence by Sonia Gandhi on Thursday. Turn to P5
organization had been planning “something se rious” in the state.
country”, adding that “the state Home Depart ment will take care of them”.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Chief Minis ter Eknath Shinde on Wednesday welcomed the Union government’s decision to ban the Popu lar Front of India (PFI), which has allegedly been involved in a series of violence. He also said it has come to light that the
“The (PFI) organiza tion members had also tried to disturb peace in Pune, but swift police ac tion foiled their bid,” Shinde told reporters in Nashik. He thanked Un ion Home Minister Amit Shah for the step to ban PFI and its several asso ciates, for five years.
Referring to pro-Paki stan slogans allegedly raised during a PFI pro test in Pune, the CM said “such people do not have the right to live in the
“The PFI and its allied organizations were found to be involved in serious crimes. It recent ly became active in ter ror funding, murders, insulting the Constitu tion, disturbing the so cial harmony and unity of the country. It has also surfaced that the organi zation was planning something serious in Maharashtra as well,” said the CM.
The plans of anti-so
Thane (PTI): The Shiv Sena rebel faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has welcomed the Supreme Court’s order as the “victory of democracy”. Welcoming the top court’s ruling that the Election Commission of India (ECI) continue hearing the plea of the Shinde faction seeking the poll symbol of Shiv Sena, its Spokesperson Naresh Mhaske said, “The rights of the ECI and its powers have remained intact due to the decision of the apex court”. Kalyan MP and CM Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde hailed the ruling as the victory of democracy.“I hope they (Uddhav Thackeray camp) will learn a les son. They will also real ize which is the real Shiv Sena of Bal Thackeray,” he added.
cial elements to under take anti-national activi ties and divide the socie ty will never succeed, he added.
Shinde said this is a nation of patriots and statements against the
country should not be and “will not be tolerat ed”.
More than 150 people allegedly linked to the PFI were detained or ar rested in raids across seven states on Tuesday.
This was conducted five days after a similar panIndia crackdown against the 16-year-old group had led to the arrest of more than a hundred of its ac tivities and seizure of several dozen properties.
Says the organization had been planning ‘something serious’ in MahaMaharashtra CM Eknath Shinde attends installation ceremony at Swaminarayan temple, in Nashik on Wednesday. PHOTO Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw with Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur during a press conference on Cabinet Decisions, in New Delhi on Wednesday. PM Modi will inaugurate the 36th National Games at a grand Opening Ceremony to be held at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad today. PM will also ad dress athletes from across country taking part. Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur will also attend the opening ceremony. National Games are being held in the state of Gujarat for the very first time. PM Narendra Modi virtually addresses the inauguration of an intersection named Lata Mangeshkar Chowk in Ayodhya in New Delhi on Wednesday. (R) Modi takes to Twitter his memory with Lata ‘didi’. Ashwini Vaishnaw and Anurag Thakur share a smiling frame. RAJ CM GEHLOT REACHES DELHI CM Ashok Gehlot reached Delhi airport on Wednesday. Also seen here is Dhiraj Srivastava, Shashi Kant Sharma and others.
Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister Dev endra Fadnavis on Wednesday said there was enough evidence to prove that the Pop ular Front of India (PFI), banned by the Centre for five years, was sowing seeds of violence in society. He also termed it a ‘si lent killer’ and ex pressed intention to shut down offices of the organization in Maharashtra.
The aim of the organ ization was to spread rumours and trigger violence, Fadnavis, who holds charge of the Home Department, told reporters.
The central govern ment on Wednesday banned PFI, alleged to be involved in several violent and terror inci dents and having ‘links’ with global terror
groups like ISIS, along with its several associ ates for five years.
“There is enough evi dence with the govern ment and probe agen cies that the PFI was sowing seeds of vio lence. Spreading ru mours, raising funds and triggering violence was their aim,” said Fadnavis.
“A fake video of a mosque being demol
ished in a north eastern state was circulated with an intention to trig ger violence. We have seen such an incident in Amravati in the past. It later came to light that the video was from Bangladesh,” he said.
With the Union gov ernment banning the PFI, like every other state Maharashtra will also issue a detailed or der on the implementa
Thane (PTI): The board of the banned Popular Front of India’s (PFI) office in Navi Mumbai was taken down on Wednes day by authorities amidst heavy secu rity. The office is located in Sector 23 at Nerul, said officials.
Offices of PFI lo cated in the Thane district are shut fol lowing the recent crackdown on its activists and the ban.
First India Bureau Mumbai: State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Kirit Somaiya and Nitesh Rane on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minis ter Amit Shah for banning the Popu lar Front of India (PFI) and its affili ate outfits.
Thane: A Bharati ya Janta Party (BJP) legislator has asked Eknath Shinde-led gov ernment in the state to put out a whitepaper relat ed to projects that were stalled dur ing the previous Maha Vikas Agha di (MVA) govern ment led by the Uddhav Thacker ay faction.
The demand was put forth by BJP’s Member of Legisla tive Committee (MLC) Niranjan Davkhare, who is also the party dis trict president of Thane (city).
“The develop ment in the state of Maharashtra had come to a grinding halt during the MVA rule,” he said in an official state ment.
“Hence, a white paper should be brought out by the current Eknath Shinde-led govern ment on the pro jects stalled under the MVA rule,” Davkhare said.
tion of the ban, he said.
Besides PFI, other out fits declared banned un der the stringent antiterror law UAPA include, Rehab India Foundation, Campus Front of India, All India Imams Coun cil, National Confedera tion of Human Rights Organization, National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala.
The police and crime branch offi cials arrested four activists of the banned organiza tion from Thane district- two from Mumbra and one each from Kalyan and Bhiwandi towns, on Tuesday during the statewide swoop.
The Central gov ernment on Wednes day banned the PFI and several of its associates for five years under a strin gent anti-terror law, accusing them of having “links” with terror groups.
The organizations were outlawed for having terror links and both leaders de manded strong action against members con nected to them.
Extending his sup port to the Central government, Somaiya said “anti-national ac tivities” of these out fits will not be toler ated in India.
In a video message, the former member of the Maharashtra Leg islative Assembly said, “I want to thank Prime Minister Nar endra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for banning the antinational PFI.”
Taking to his Twit ter handle, he tweet ed, “We support the Government of In
dia’s decision to ban PFI under UAPA. Fa naticism, anti-India activities, and terror funding by PFI and its activists have been ex posed. Strong action must be taken against all activists connected with PFI.”
Meanwhile, Rane who is Union minister Narayan Rane’s son said the Centre’s deci sion to ban PFI and its affiliates for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Preven tion) Act, 1967, was the “need of the hour”.
He also asked for a ban on Islamic organ ization Raza Academy next.
“Ek hi maara... magar solid maara na!!! Salute to Naren dra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Banning PFI was the need of the hour...
Next is terrorist or ganisation Raza Acad emy which is working along the same lines. Sabko saaf karo... Ye Humara Hindustan hai!!!” Rane tweeted from his handle.
First India Bureau Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secretary Pankaja Munde on Wednesday cleared the air about reports on her ‘sym bol of dynastic poli tics’ speech. She had allegedly said that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi can not finish her off po litically if she rules in the hearts of people.
The statement was made on September 17 during a programme held to mark the PM’s birthday.
As her remarks about PM Modi were high lighted by a section of media, Munde on Wednesday alleged “sensationalization” of
news, and claimed that her statement was tak en out of context. She was accompanied by her party colleague and state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar at an event.
During the Septem ber 17 programme, Munde had said, “Modi ji wants to end dynastic
politics...I am also a symbol of dynastic poli tics. But nobody can fin ish me off, not even Modiji, if I rule in your (people’s) hearts.”
At the event, she had also urged children to keep a positive frame of mind in any situation and gave the example of PM Modi, saying he
Her comments taken out of context, says state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar
overcame all the chal lenges of his childhood.
The video clip of Munde’s remarks went viral on social media.
Taking to Twitter, Munde on Wednesday said, “My speech was part of various events organized to celebrate the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is only one line about PM Modi. If people find time from ‘sensationalization’ of news, they do need to see the full video of my speech.”
SP to set up an outpost there to ensure some communication to coor dinate with trekkers in case of an emergency.”
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Nashik superintendent of po lice has been instruct ed by the office of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis to set up a police outpost near Ratangad fort. The order comes after 17 trekkers from Mumbai were strand ed in the region on Sat urday due to bad weather and had no way of getting help.
The group was res cued after one of the trekkers’ family mem bers alerted the deputy chief minister’s under secretary.
The information about trekkers getting stranded came through to the office of the un dersecretary to the dep uty chief minister, Amol Patankar, saying the group was unreach able since Saturday evening.
“As soon as I received the SOS…at around 11.30pm, I contacted the Nashik SP…. The State
Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was also contact ed and the group was
rescued early on Sun day,” said Patankar. “We have asked the Nashik
The local police took well over an hour to get to the base camp, where they met the trekkers who had been walking for hours to get there.
The Dy CM’s office dis covered that the nearest police station from the Ratangad Fort was ap proximately 40 kilome tres away, making it dif ficult for the police to reach the location in the event of an emergency.
“We started the trek at 8.30am and reached Ratangad fort, which
sits at 4,200 feet from the base camp. We were not familiar with the long stretch and it was raining heavily. We got lost and walked 7-8 hours during the night. Our group was sup posed to reach base camp in the afternoon, but managed to reach only at around 12.30am,” said Sarita Dash, one of the trek kers.
Another trekker said, “Having a police out post mid-way would be very helpful…because after sunset it is very dark, and people lose their way despite hav ing local guides.”
‘Whitepaper on projects stalled under MVA needed’MLC Niranjan Davkhare Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis confer an award to flute legend Hariprasad Chaurasiya at the first ever Lata Mangeshkar Awards 2020 and 2021 ceremony organized by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, in Mumbai on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Spreading rumours, raising funds and triggering unrest was the outfit’s aim, says Dy CMMaharashtra prepares to close down all PFI offices in state, as politicos express gratitude for Centre ban Maha Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis addressing mediapersons in Mumbai on Wednesday. A fake video of a mosque being demolished in a north eastern state was circulated with an intention to trigger violence. We have seen such an incident in Amravati in the past. It later came to light that the video was from Bangladesh. —Devendra Fadnavis, Maha Deputy CM Fadnavis said Kerala was the first state to demand a ban on the PFI. Similar demands were later made by other states in the country also. With the Union government banning the PFI, like every other state Maharashtra will also issue a detailed order on the implementa tion of the ban, he said. Kirit Somaiya Nitesh Rane Both BJP leaders extend support for Central govrment’s nationwide crackdown on the organization and its other affiliates with links to global terror outfits such as ISIS Pankaja Munde —FILE PHOTO The climb up to Ratangad fort is especially difficult during monsoon season. —FILE PHOTO
Directive comes after group of trekkers stranded in the area on Sat sent SOS to undersecretary
First India Bureau
Mumbai/Nashik: Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhu jbal has questioned the displaying of por traits of Goddess Sar aswati at schools in Maharashtra.
Reacting sharply to the contention, Chief Minister Eknath Shin de and his deputy Dev endra Fadnavis said the portraits of the goddess will not be removed as she is the deity of knowledge.
Speaking at an event in Mumbai earlier this week, Bhujbal had de manded that the por traits of social reform ers like Savitri Phule, Jyotiba Phule, Shahu Maharaj, Bhaurao Pa til, and BR Ambedkar
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A 34-year-old woman was arrested by the police in Mum bai for duping jewel lers by mortgaging fake gold coins.
The woman identified as Asha Hitesh Lodha is a resident of posh hous ing society in suburban Dahisar area and was ar rested after her recent attempt to try and cheat a jeweller.
According to Kurla po
While mortgaging a coin recently, the woman had introduced herself as Netra Bokadia, but her real name is Asha Lodha
lice station, the woman went to a jewellery shop in suburban Kurla and mortgaged a fake gold coin for Rs20,000.
After examining the coin closely, the jeweller realised that the coin given to him by the wom an was fake. He tried to contact the woman using her phone number, but in vain, a police official at the Kurla police sta tion said. The jeweller then lodged a complaint at the police station.
Soon, the police locat ed the woman and inter rogated her. She was ar rested after she failed to give satisfactory replies to the cops. The accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 420 (cheating), and further investiga tion was underway.
be displayed in schools. “Instead of these so cial reformers, por traits of goddesses Sar aswati and Sharda are displayed in schools. We have not seen them and they have not taught us anything. If at all they have taught, it is to 3% people who kept us away (from edu cation). Why should we pray before them?” the
former minister had asked.
Both Shinde and Fad navis said that portraits of the goddess will not be removed from schools.
“No photos will be re moved. Some people (Bhujbal) may feel any thing. We will do noth ing as per their wish. We will do whatever the common people want,” the chief minister told
reporters in Nashik, the home turf of Bhu jbal, a prominent Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader, on Wednesday.
Deputy CM Fadnavis said the portraits of na tional icons can be in stalled in schools but Goddess Saraswati’s photos will not be re moved.
“Devi Saraswati is
the goddess of knowl edge. Those who do not accept our culture and Hindutva, make such statements,” he said when asked about Bhu jbal’s remarks.
Meanwhile, security has been stepped up outside Bhujbal’s resi dence ‘Bhujbal Farm’ in Nashik, as a precau tionary measure to avoid any backlash.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Although motorized vehicles are not allowed to ply in Matheran, the state transport au thority has, on an ex perimental basis, per mitted e-rickshaw tri als at the hill station.
According to an offi cial from the Regional Transport Office (RTO), the Supreme Court had given a directive to con duct trials of e-rick
their feasibility. “The one-time per mission was granted
by the Mumbai Metro politan Region Trans port Authority (MMR TA) for conducting tri als on an experimental basis as a special case. Badge-holder auto driv ers will run these,” said the official.
At present, no motor ized vehicles, except am bulances, are allowed to run in Matheran be yond Dasturi Point, the entry point on the hill station’s plateau.
Beyond Dasturi
Point, people have to rely on horses or dolis (palanquins), apart from the famous nar row-gauge mini toy train between Neral and Matheran stations.
However, since the 2019 monsoon, when the rains severely damaged the train tracks at sev eral points, the mini train service is now only available to travel lers between Aman Lodge (near Dasturi) and Matheran.
First India Bureau
Thane: A 58-year-old woman from Thane district allegedly lost more than Rs26 lakh after being lured to in vest in an insurance scheme promising high returns, police said on Wednesday.
Based on a complaint filed by the woman on Tuesday, the Vithalwadi
police registered a case against two persons un der sections for cheating.
The woman went to a nationalized bank after retiring from a govern ment job in 2020 to invest in a fixed deposit. A bank employee told her about an insurance scheme in which she could invest Rs5 lakh for five years and receive a Rs38 lakh return after ten years.
The woman paid for two years, but later dis covered that the clause allowing her to receive Rs38 lakh was missing from the scheme docu ment. The accused, un der the pretext of help ing the woman, allegedly asked her to make a number of payments be tween Oct 2021 and Feb 2022 which amounted to Rs26,66,137.
First India Bureau
Pune: The old bridge in the busy Chandni Chowk area in Pune city is set to be demol ished on October 02 through a controlled explosion, a district of ficial informed on Tuesday.
The National High ways Authority of India (NHAI) and Pune dis trict officials have com pleted the pre-demoli tion work of the bridge, said District Collector Rajesh Deshmukh.
“The pre-demolition work of the bridge is completed. The existing old bridge will be demol ished on October 02. All vehicular movement on
October 02,” he said.
The Edifice Engineer ing Consultancy Com pany, appointed by NHAI, will conduct the process. This is the same company which had car ried out the demolition of the twin towers in Noida using explosives, he added.
bris from the highway will be carried out,” add ed Deshmukh.
Thane: As many as 27 property dealers have been booked by the police in Thane district for fabricat ing documents in order to register their construc tions under the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). The developers have been accused of cheating home buyers from 27 villages and the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), an official from the Manpada police station. A complaint filed by a KDMC official said that the accused forged documents to show permissions issued by KDMC and thus got their registered with RERA. No arrest has been made so far.
the highway will be di verted. The road will be closed from 11pm on Oc tober 01 till 8am the next day. The bridge will be taken down at 2am on
“The blast to carry out the demolition will take place at 2am and within five to six seconds, the entire bridge will come down. Once the bridge is demolished, the next process to remove the de
As per the informa tion shared by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Rahul Shrirame, traffic diver sions will be in place from 11pm onwards on October 01. Heavy vehi cles travelling from Mumbai to Bengaluru via National Highway 4 will be stopped near Talegaon while heavy vehicles in the opposite direction will be stopped at Khed Shivapur.
Thane: A First Informa tion Report (FIR) has been registered against six persons for luring people to invest with their company for high returns. The case was registered on a complaint filed by a doctor who alleged that he was being cheated to the tune of Rs85 lakh. The accused have been also been booked for cheating a Kandivli-based heart surgeon and his family to the tune of Rs4.32 crore, the police said.
Nagpur: A restaurant owner in Nagpur city was booked on Tuesday for allegedly attempting to kill his former business partner with his gun over a financial dispute, police said. The accused, Rehan Ansari Aslam Miyaji (30), opened fire on Moham mad Sharif Mohammad Rafiq Ansari (37) in front of Hotel Sanjari Taj on Sunday morning, but the latter escaped unharmed. A case was filed for attempted mur der under the IPC and the Arms Act.
ANGRY WITH GIRLFRIEND, 22-YEAR-OLD MAN COMMITS SUICIDE IN NAGPUR Nagpur: A 22-year-old man committed suicide by consuming a poisonous drug in Nagpur city following a dispute with his girlfriend who used to follow some male members on her Instagram account. Rohan Singh Kapoor (22), a resident of Ram Nagar, consumed some poisonous drug at a Durga Puja pandal in Ramdaspeth area on Monday night, a Sitabuldi police station official said. Kapoor was also depressed due to financial debts. After consuming the poisonous drug, Kapoor asked a man at the pandal to call up his elder brother, Veerpal Singh Kapoor, and inform about his condition. Veerpal admitted his brother to a hospital where he died on Tuesday.
CM Eknath Shinde, Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis deny removal of photos depicting Goddess Saraswati, as she is ‘deity of knowledge’NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal speaks to mediapersons. —ANI PHOTO Instead of these social reformers, portraits of goddesses Saraswati and Sharda are displayed in schools. We have not seen them and they have not taught us anything. If at all they have taught, it is to 3% people who kept us away (from education). Why should we pray before them? —Chhagan Bhujbal, NCP leader At least three workers were killed and eight others sustained severe burn injures when a hydrogen gas cylinder exploded and triggered a fire in an industrial unit at Vasai of Palghar district on Wednesday. The incident took place at around 3 pm in the electrical equipment manufacturing company located in Chandarpada area, said a district disaster management cell official. “Three workers were charred beyond recognition. Eight others received severe burn injuries,” he said. Fire tenders were spotted dousing the flames at the industrial unit after the accident. —PHOTOS BY PTI shaws at the popular tourist spot in Raigad district and check People rely on horses or palanquins apart from the mini toy train in Matheran. —FILE PHOTO Palghar: A 21-year-old woman was shot dead by a man, after which the man committed suicide by jumping before a vehicle. The 26-year-man shot the woman named Neha Mahto from point-blank range, resulting in her death. The police suspect that the incident was a fall-out of a love affair. The man, iden tified as Shrikrishna Yadav then jumped before a CISF vehicle and sustained serious injuries. The man was immediately rushed to the hospital where he died. The incident took place at around 3.30pm, said Se nior Inspector Suresh Kadam of Boisar police station. The woman’s body has been sent for post-mortem. A case under the IPC section 302 (murder) and under the Arms Act has been registered.
WOMAN SHOT DEAD, SHOOTER JUMPS IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE, DIESAll traffic movement on the nearby highway to be diverted.
Given the repeated rate hikes to tackle inflation, rupee depreciation may persist, making oil imports expensive. With OMCs trying to recoup losses, fuel prices in the short term are unlikely to drop. Unless, there is pressure from the government to bring the prices down, it seems that our fuel bills will continue to dent our savings for some more time
If you are a vehicle owner, chances are that each time you visited a petrol pump in the past few months you must have wished for petrol and diesel prices to come down. We all know that fuel prices have remained the same for the last few months despite getting constant up dates on falling crude oil prices. Have you ever won dered why Indian fuel prices are not reflecting the same?
Before we address this, let us give you a little background.
When the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in early 2022, crude oil prices had shot up to in excess of $120. However, oil prices have now tumbled to their lowest level to $84 per barrel for the first time in months. Moreover, Indian re finers have been securing discounted oil from Russia post the war sanctions. In fact, Russian oil now ac counts for 16% of India’s
overall imports compared to just 0.5% a year ago.
However, fuel prices in In dia have largely remained unchanged. For instance, in the national capital, petrol and diesel prices have been Rs 96.72 and Rs 89.62 a litre respectively for the last 4 months. In Mumbai too, pet rol and diesel prices have re mained unchanged at Rs. 106.29 and Rs. 94.23 a litre for the past 3 months
We all know that the prices of petrol and diesel are di rectly dependent on global oil prices. But there are a host of other costs added to the oil price to come to the final price we pay at the pump sta tion. Let’s understand that in detail.
COST OF CRUDE OIL: The cost of crude or unre fined oil varies based on de mand and supply economics, international political rela tions and future reserves. In the international market, a barrel of crude oil is priced and traded in USD. Changes in the price of crude oil and currency movements direct ly impact petrol and diesel prices in the country.
PROCESSING COSTS: The crude oil is acquired, re fined and distributed by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petro leum are examples of such
We all know that fuel prices have remained the same for the last few months despite getting constant updates on falling crude oil prices. Have you ever wondered why Indian fuel prices are not reflecting the same?
companies. Costs incurred here include freight, process ing costs, margins, opera tional costs – all of which affects the final price at which fuel is sold.
COMMISSION FOR DEALERS: This is the amount paid by OMCs to the dealers who are in charge of distributing the fuel to the final customer.
TAXES: The central gov ernment levies excise duty on petrol and diesel – a prede fined amount irrespective of fuel prices. In addition, state governments impose a Value Added Tax which is applied at all stages of the production of goods and services. For ex ample, in Delhi excise duty is 21% and VAT is 16.25% of the cost per litre of petrol. Now coming back, why have petrol and diesel prices not come down?
Repeated interest rate hikes by the US Fed and increase in India’s trade deficit has triggered the depreciation of rupee against the dollar to a historic low of 81.09. This will make import of crude oil expensive. How? Crude oil prices are always quoted and traded in USD. This means that India has to spend more to get the same quantity of oil. Moreover, India is an import-depend ent nation as it gets around 85% of its oil from other countries. Thus, the weaken ing of the rupee has a bear ing on the domestic price of fuel.
When international oil prices surged to multi-year highs, OMCs didn’t revise their sell ing price in line with the in ternational costs to help the government tame the already high inflation. As a result, these companies were incur ring huge losses, almost Rs.2025 per litre on diesel and Rs. 14-18 a litre on petrol – posting a combined net loss of Rs. 18,480 crore in the last quar ter. With low crude oil prices, this is the right time for OMCs to recover its past losses be fore the benefit can be passed on to the consumers.
External Affairs Minister S Jais hankar is steering India’s foreign policy with no in tention of holding his punch es wherever required. After taking on Europe for buying oil from Russia and strongly defending New Delhi’s friend ship with Moscow, he trained his guns on the United States.
America’s F-16 deal with Pakistan has obviously not gone down well with India and EAM Jaishankar in some plain speaking stated that by allowing the sale of F-16 fleet “the US was not fooling anybody” as in the past American weapons have only been used against India
In a blow to West Ben gal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s “Duare Ration Scheme” has been de clared illegal and ultra vires of the National Food Security Act, 2013. The scheme required PDS shop owners to deliver food grains at the doorstep of the card holder. The judgment has thus jettisoned a promise Mamata Banerjee made in her election manifesto. The court ruled that the NFS Act does not support that policy.
The chief minister has other wise been effectively subdued by the Central government. So much so, she now finds faults with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and not Prime Minister Narendra. Under relentless pres sure from central investigative agencies and the Calcutta High Court, changing her tune was the safest way out for Didi even though one cannot be sure if that will save her kin from the En forcement Directorate. The change was first witnessed dur ing the Presidential election when she decided to support BJP’s candidate Droupadi Mur mu. The move took opposition parties completely by surprise.
It is ironical that Washing ton which earlier accused Pakistan of sheltering Osa ma bin Laden, the master mind of 26/11, and carrying out terrorist attacks on India should now find it to be a
America’s F-16 deal with Pa kistan has obviously not gone down well with India and EAM Jaishankar in some plain speaking stated that by allowing the sale of F-16 fleet “the US was not fooling any body” as in the past Ameri can weapons have only been used against India. The US defended the supply saying that it was Washington’s “ob ligation to provide military equipment to ensure that Pa kistan’s capability to deal with threats from al-Qaeda and ISIS remains intact.
holy cow. Over all these past years Pakistan has not once used US weapons against ter rorists even as it became their breeding ground. In 2018, while IMF was consid ering a bailout package for Pakistan, the US wanted to ensure that the money won’t be used for terror financing or pay off debt to China. With such a track record, US Sec retary of State Anthony Blinken’s justification for F-16 supply to Pakistan, therefore, is at best a shoddy attempt at pulling the wool over India’s eyes.
Islamabad has never given up machinations to destabi lize India. Its intelligence agency continues to protect pro-Khalistan elements and planners of Mumbai terror attacks.
Greetings to NDMA personnel on their 18th Foundation Day. Through capacity-building and sharing best practices, NDMA is playing a pivotal role in realising the vision of a disasterresilient India. May the @ndmaindia continue to serve the nation with the same resolve & spirit.
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 143 l RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652
Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701.
Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057. Phone 022-46031417.
Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
Whatever is not yours: let go of it. Your letting go of it will be for your longterm happiness & benefit. BuddhaNarendra Modi @narendramodi Congratulations @GiorgiaMeloni for leading your party @FratellidItalia to victory in the Italian general elections. We look forward to working together to strengthen our ties. Amit Shah @AmitShah
New Delhi (PTI): Con gress MP Abdul Khaleque on Wednes day batted for Priyanka Gandhi to take on the mantle of party presi dency, saying that being the daughter-in-law of the Vadra family, she is no more a Gandhi fam ily member as per Indi an tradition and should take up the post.
His remarks come a few days after Ashok Gehlot also said Rahul Gandhi has told him that he respects the wish of the party work ers that he should take charge of the organisa tion but no one from the Gandhi family would become the next Con gress president.
“I requested him mul tiple times. He has clearly said ‘I know, eve ryone wants me to take it up, PCCs have passed resolutions, the work ers want it. I have a lot of respect for them but due to certain reasons, we have decided that a non-Gandhi family per son should become the president’,” Gehlot had said.
Senior Congress lead er Tharoor seems set to contest the polls for the top post but it is not clear who will be his electoral rival as the de velopments in Ra jasthan have put a cloud over Ashok Gehlot’s candidature.
According to a notifi cation issued by the
New Delhi: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has decided to file nomi nation for the post of the party president for which election is sched uled to be held on Octo ber 17. He is expected to arrive in the national capital on Wednesday night. Sources close to Singh on Wednesday said the decision to contest the polls is his personal one, adding nobody from the Gandhi family has asked him to do so. The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister may file the
party on Thursday, the process for filing nomi nations for the election will be held from Sep tember 24 to 30. The
nmination by September 30. Congress’ initial plan was to field Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for the top party post but the high-octane drama in Rajasthan has miffed the Gandhis. Sources in the know of things said “Gehlot has not been ruled out from the race yet”.
date for scrutiny of nomination papers is October 1, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October
New Delhi: The SC on Wednesday agreed to hear SP leader Azam Khan’s plea against the Uttar Pradesh govt’s action for taking over Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in the state on September 29. Azam Khan’s plea was mentioned in the SC by senior advocate Kapil Sibal. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said that his client, who was facing 87 cases, got bail with great difficulty. Later, three more cases were lodged against him on the allegations of corruption, he said.Senior Advocate Sibal further said that now they have taken over the university, closed down the mess and have broken the walls.
New Delhi: The SC expressed dissatisfaction against the Centre over no decision taken on Balwant Singh Rajoana’s plea that his death penalty in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab CM Beant Singh be commuted to life imprisonment on the ground of his long incarceration of 26 years. The apex court was also unhappy over submission of the counsel for the Centre that the matter be adjourned.
A BIG SC HEARING ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH FOR MINS New Delhi: To frame general guidelines in “thin air” to restrict govt ministers, MPs, MLA or public leaders, including political party presidents, from making unguarded, derogatory and hurtful statements in public may prove “difficult”, a Constitution Bench prima facie said on Wednesday. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta accepted that a public functionary should be more guarded in speech than an ordinary person.
New Delhi: The SC on Wednesday said it will examine if the challenge to the Centre’s 2016 demonetisation decision has become academic and posted the matter for consideration on Oct 12. As the hearing commenced, a constitution bench headed by Justice S A Nazeer wondered if the matter survives for consideration at this stage.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, submitted that for all practical purposes the matter does not survive for consideration. However, the case can be examined as an academic exercise, he said. Responding to the submission, the bench said, ”A fivejudge bench for academic exercise when we are already burdened with such a large amount of pendency.” “We will fix it for hearing on October 12. We will examine if it has become academic and if it can be heard at all,” the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian, and B V Nagarathna said.
New Delhi: The SC has imposed a fine of `5 lakh on the Tamil Nadu government for filing an “unnecessary” appeal despite the issue being already decided by the top court. A bench of Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari asked the State to deposit `5 lakh within a period of four weeks.
Kolkata: In a major setback for the West Bengal govt, the Calcutta High Court today termed the state government’s ‘Duare Ration Scheme’ as legally void.
The division bench of the Calcutta HC called it illegal in the “eye of law” as it coincides with the National Food security Act, 2013.
The much touted scheme was part of the chief minister’s election manifesto promising free ration at doorstep to beneficiaries.
The scheme had been implemented soon after govt formation in 2021.
A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the HC.
New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Wednesday granted bail to AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a case related to alleged irregularities in appointment in Delhi Waqf Board during his chairmanship. The ACB recently arrested him in the case. The Special Judge Vikas Dhull on Wednesday allowed Amanatullah Khan’s bail petition and directed him to furnish a personal bail bond of `1 lakh and one like amount surety.
Abdul Khaleque @MPAbdulKhalequeAs Shri Rahul Gandhi is denying to become @ INCIndia President again, I consider @ priyankagandhi as best candidate.”
“Being daughter in law of Vadra family, she is no more member of Gandhi family as per Indian tradition.
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Wednes day said it is against all ideologies and institutions that abuse religion to polarise the society and misuse it to spread hate, bigotry and violence. All India Congress Commit tee general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said his party is against all forms of communal ism. His statement came a day after the Central government banned the PFI and several of its associ
8. The final list of can didates will be pub lished at 5 pm on Octo ber 8. The polling, if needed, will be held on
ates for their alleged terror activities.“The Congress’ policy has always been to uncompromisingly fight all ideologies and institutions that abuse religion to polarise our society, that misuse religion to spread prejudice, hate, bigotry and violence,” he said.
October 17. The count ing of votes will be tak en up on October 19 and the results will be de clared the same day.
Rajkot (PTI): The Gujarat Congress on Wednes day took out a rally in Saurashtra region in a bid to woo Patidars by visiting temples associated with the community, ahead of the state Assembly elections due in December this year. Senior party leaders started the day-long rally, titled “Chalo Congress ke saath, Maa ke dwar”, by garland ing a statue of India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Rajkot city.The rally will cover Khodaldham (in Rajkot district) and Sidsar (Juna gadh), known for temples of the reigning deities of Leuva and Kadva sub-castes of Patidar, a numeri cally significant community in the state.
New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday shared videos of Rahul Gandhi leading the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and being greeted joyfully by a young girl who seems so delighted at meeting the Lok Sabha MP she breaks into tears. “No caption needed. Only love,” the party wrote as it tweeted the video. A second video showed Rahul Gandhi leading party workers and locals on the march and a third (among several shared online) shows him smiling and lift ing a young child on his shoulders.
Bhopal (PTI): MP Congress chief Kamal Nath on Wednesday said he is not keen on becoming the party president and does not want to contest the election for that post as he wishes to focus on his home state, where As sembly elections are scheduled next year.“I talked to Rahul Gandhi and urged him to contest so that all this (ongo ing uproar) could be ended. I told him things are getting complicated. But he said he does not want to become (the party president),” Nath told reporters.
FROM PG 1
Sonia keeps... Interestingly, with the political development in Raj, since Sunday, it is being said that there is a question over Gehlot running for party presi dency. One section with in the party has claimed that Gehlot is not yet out of the race for the presidency. However, any conrete develop ment in this regard, will occur only after Gehlot meets Sonia Gandhi and the duo reach a de cisive understanding.
Meanwhile, the Raj CM also spoke to the media at Delhi airport and said, “We all work un der the command of Cong President. The current situation is of the Congress family and we will solve it soon. It has been our party’s tra dition, we always obey the Cong President.
Congress of the whole country is standing un der command of Sonia Gandhi. Small things do happen in a large fami ly.”
Gehlot also suggested to the media that in stead of focussing on Congress, ‘the media should recognize the crisis facing the coun try today.’
He further said, “To day we are concerned about that, for which Rahul Gandhi is taking out the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Our party’s tradi tion is going on for 50 years and we all follow the instructions of the Congress President.”
Interestingly, there is yet another grapevine in the presidency election. Word in ‘relevant’ circles is the former MP CM Digvijaya Singh may stand for the Congress presidency election.
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: UP cadre IAS Surendra Singh, who had been serving as Meerut Commission er & CEO of Greater Noida Authority, has been made Secretary to the Lieutenant Gover nor of New Delhi. Meanwhile, IAS Chan dra Bhushan Kumar, a 1995 batch officer, has been made the Princi pal Secretary to the
Lieutenant Governor.
IAS Chandra Bhush an Kumar is currently posted as Deputy Elec tion Commissioner in the Election Commis sion. For a period of three years, the central govt has shifted Suren dra Singh to the AG MUT cadre and ap pointed him as Secre tary to LG in New Delhi. IAS Surendra Singh has served as collector of 10 districts of UP.
New Delhi (ANI): For mer Chief Minister of Bihar and founder pres ident of RJD Lalu Pras ad Yadav was re-elected unopposed as the party president for the record 12th time on Wednesday. Uday Narayan Choud hary Returning officer of the RJD election said that only Lalu had filed the nomination for the post of the party presi dent and thus was elect ed unopposed as the party chief. “Today from 3 to 4 pm, the date and time for withdrawal of nomination papers were fixed during which the only filed nomination paper was not with drawn,” he added.
Chandigarh (PTI):
The international air port here was on Wednesday renamed Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh, days after Prime Minister Naren dra Modi’s announce ment in this regard.
Union Finance Minis ter Nirmala Sithara man, who was the chief guest at an event at the airport, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for deciding to re name the airport after the iconic freedom fight
BY ANIpresent at the event. During his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio broadcast on Sunday, PM Modi had announced that the air port would be renamed after Bhagat Singh as a tribute to the freedom fighter. The 115th birth anniversary of the free dom fighter is being cel ebrated on Wednesday.
“Through this small gesture, we are remem bering the immense sac rifice the young people like Shaheed Bhagat Singh made during the freedom struggle.
er. Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Haryana Bandaru Dat tatreya, Union Minister V K Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Haryana deputy chief minister Dushy ant Chautala, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher were also TRIBUTE TO THE FREEDOM FIGHTER Nirmala Sitharaman, Bhagwant Mann, Banwarilal Purohit and Bandaru Dattatreya at the Naming Ceremony of Chandigarh International Airport as Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport. Lalu Prasad Yadav filing nomination papers for the post of party’s chief. MAYAWATI CAN JOIN OPPOSITION ALLIANCE IF PROJECTED AS PM CANDIDATE Lucknow: In a major development, the BSP has said that it can join the opposition alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, provided the alliance partners are ready to project Mayawati as their Prime Ministerial candidate. BSP national spokesperson Dharamveer Chaudhary said that the “ultimate decision, however, will be taken by Behenji (Mayawati)”, Chaudhary added that if the opposition parties reach out to BSP in a respectful manner and apprise the party chief of their agenda, there is no harm that the party would see in aligning with them. GUJ CONGRESS HOLDS RALLY TO WOO PATIDAR COMMUNITY AHEAD OF POLLSWB GOVT’S ‘DUARE RATION SCHEME’ LEGALLY VOID: HC—PHOTO Surendra Singh Chandra Bhushan Kumar
Bengaluru (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary Arun Singh on Wednesday said that the ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) was necessary to keep the country intact.
"At the time when ri ots took place in many districts in Rajasthan, we had said that PFI was involved. Even here (in Karnataka), when Siddaramaiah was in power, more than 23 peo ple were killed. To keep the country intact (PFI) ban was necessary," Arun Singh told media persons in Bengaluru.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) through a notification issued late on Tuesday night, declared "the PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts as an unlawful associa tion with immediate effect" and banned them for a period of five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
"PFI and its associ ates or affiliates or fronts operate openly as
a socio-economic, edu cational and political organization, but, they have been pursuing a secret agenda to radical ize a particular section of the society working towards undermining the concept of democ racy and show sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authori ty and constitutional set up of the country," the government notifica tion had said.
The notification had said that PFI and its as sociates or affiliates or fronts have been in dulging in unlawful ac
tivities, which are prej udicial to the integrity, sovereignty and secu rity of the country and have the potential to disturb public peace and communal harmo ny of the country and support militancy in the country.
It had further said that some of PFI's founding members are the leaders of the Stu dents Islamic Move ment of India (SIMI) and PFI has linkages with Jamat-ul-Mujahi deen Bangladesh (JMB), both of which are pro scribed organisations.
New Delhi (Agencies): The government’s ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) is ‘undemocratic’ and ‘anticonstitutional’ and will be challenged in the Supreme Court, the Campus Front of India - the PFI’s students’ wing - said Wednesday afternoon, hours after a five-year ban came into effect. The CFI said it had been ‘working for over a decade among students across the country with a vision of building socially concerned and respon sible youths with (a) secular and democratic spirit’.
Lakhimpur Kheri (ANI): At least eight people died and more than 25 were injured after a truck and a pri vate bus heading to Lucknow collided in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakh impur Kheri.
The bus was heading from Dhaurehra to Lucknow when the ac cident occurred in the Police Station range of Isanagar near Era bridge.
New Delhi (PTI): Anyone from the AAP could be jailed on false charges as the BJP is making all out efforts to “crush” the party fearing defeat in the upcoming Gu jarat assembly polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday.
Kejriwal’s com ments come a day af ter the CBI arrested AAP’s communica tions in-charge Vijay Nair in connection with the Delhi excise policy case in which Deputy Chief Minis ter Manish Sisodia is also an accused. In a digital address, Ke jriwal claimed that
Nair was arrested by the CBI following several rounds of questioning after he refused to buckle.
Kolkata (ANI): West Bengal BJP chief Su kanta Majumdar made startling revelations against the Mamata Banerjee-led govern ment and claimed that the TMC supremo may be arrested soon.
“Mamata Banerjee may be arrested by De cember. 41 TMC peo ple’s names are with top leadership. The govern
‘DRACONIAN ACTION CANNOT BE SUPPORTED’
Bengaluru (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that ban on the organisa tion was a long-time demand by the people of the country, by all political parties, including Opposition par ties like the CPI, the CPM and the Congress.
‘STRONG MESSAGE TO ALL ANTI-NATIONALS’ New Delhi (ANI): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Musli meen chief Asadud din Owaisi condemned the five-year ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates and said that the organisation should not be blamed for the crimes committed by "some individuals".
New Delhi (ANI): The All India Bar Association(AIBA) welcomed the decision of central government to ban the Popular Front of India (PFI) and declare it to be an “unlawful organization” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The AIBA in a statement said that the government should totally disband the PFI network and stop its attempts to be reborn under a dif ferent banner. Adish C Aggarwala, Senior Advocate and Chairman of AIBA in the statement requested the PM.
All the injured per sons were taken to a dis trict hospital while some others were re ferred to Lucknow, said Sanjay Kumar, Addi tional District Magis trate (ADM), Lakhim pur Kheri. After receiv ing the information, the ADM and Circle Officer (CO) City reached the district hospital.
Condoling the acci dent, state Chief Min ister Yogi Adityanath directed the senior officials to reach the spot and ensure proper treatment for the injured.
“Chief Minister Shri @myogiadityanath Ji Maharaj has condoled the loss of lives due to road accident in the Lakhimpur Kheri dis trict. Maharaj Ji has directed the senior of ficers to immediately go to the spot and conduct relief and rescue opera tions and make proper arrangements for the treatment of the in jured,” the CMO tweet
New Delhi (ANI): Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday adminis tered oath to two new members of the up per house.
Biplab Kumar Deb of the BJP and Ghulam Ali Khatana, a nominated member, took oath in the chamber of Dhankhar at Parlia ment House.
Khatana is a BJP lead er from Jammu and Kashmir and was re cently nominated to the
had also claimed to be in touch with TMC MLAs. “I am in touch with 21 MLAs of Mama ta Banerjee’s party, I said this earlier and again, I stand by my point. I request you just wait for the time,” add ed Mithun Chakraborty.
tion of Durga Puja dur ing “Pitru Paksha”.
ed (in Hindi).
“Expressing his con dolences to the bereaved family members, Maha raj Ji (Yogi) has wished for a speedy recovery of the injured,” it added. Further details into the matter are awaited.
ment will fall in Decem ber,” said Majumdar. BJP leader and film star Mithun Chakraborty
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Minis try of External Affairs announce yet another step to prove the citi zen's experience while availing passport relat ed services. To address the unanticipated surge in demand for Police Clearance Certificates (PCCs), Ministry has decided to include facil ity to apply for PCC ser vices at all online Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) across India, starting from Wednesday. This step would significantly add to availability of
the PCC appointments slot, at an earlier date.
The action taken by Ministry in extending this PCC application fa cility to POPSKs, would not only help Indian citizens seeking em ployment abroad, but also meet the demand for other PCC require ments, such as in case of education, long term visa, emigration etc.
West Bengal BJP Vice-President Dilip Ghosh called out Mama ta Banerjee’s inaugura
“Mamata Banerjee is destroying the sanctity of Durga Puja by inau gurating the puja in Pitru Paksha, all the works of Mamata Ba nerjee are wrong, that is why there was a mis take in chanting the mantra while worship ping Goddess Durga,” said Ghosh.
FIVE KILLED, 12 HURT IN BUS-CAR COLLISION Rewari (Agencies): Five persons were killed and 12 others injured in a collision between a Haryana Roadways bus and a Brezza car at the Salhavaas cut on the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway near Bawal town here on Wednes day. The deceased have been identified as Mahesh, Sachin, Sonu, Kapil and Nitesh of Ladhuvaas village here.
Mahesh Sharma
Patna: There are Kurmi agitations in at least two states, West Bengal and Jharkhand. In Jharkhand, Kurmis agi tated in the area of Kol han adjoining Purulia in West Bengal and de manded to be included in the Scheduled Tribes. For this the trains were stopped and there was a huge agitation. Soon af ter, similar agitations took place in Purulia and Midnapore in Ben gal demanding ST sta tus for Kurmis. This movement is happening at a time when Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who comes from Kurmi community, is doing politics for his na tional ambition. Behind him, efforts are being made to unite the Kurmi community across the country as Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharash tra and Gujarat have a large Kurmi pop ulation and are po litically competent as well.
It is being said that if Sardar Patel could
not become the Prime Minister of the country, then Nitish Kumar should become. That is, Nitish is being directly equated with Sardar Pa tel and it is being said that Nitish will do what Sardar Patel could not do. For this the Kurmis are uniting. Meanwhile, Kurmis have start
Krishna Patel, wife of Sonelal Patel, a promi nent Kurmi leader of Uttar Pradesh, met Nit ish Kumar in Patna.
Sonelal Patel’s party is divided into two parts. One is led by his daugh ter Anupriya Patel, who is a part in the NDA. The other party is Krishna Patel, wife of Apna Dal Kameravadi leader Sonelal Patel. Ni tish Kumar has a good relationship with Son elal Patel. At present, Krishna Patel’s party is in sync with the SP. Nit ish is also likely to be in the same alliance in the Lok Sabha elections.
Rajya Sabha. Deb, former chief minister of Tripura, en tered the upper house following a bypoll. Tripura’s lone Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant after Manik Saha re signed in June to contest an assembly bypoll. Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar (C) and Biplab Kumar Deb (L) and Ghulam Ali Khatana (R). Stranded trucks on the Jammu and Kashmir National highway, which is closed due to shooting stones in Ramban area, in Jammu on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI The accident occurred on a bridge over the Sharda river in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI PREZ, PM EXPRESS CONDOLENCES NEXT, YOU’LL ASK FOR CONDOMS: BIHAR IAS OFFICER FOR FREE SANITARY PADS PANRUTTI RAMACHANDRAN EXPELLED Patna (Agencies): A senior IAS officer in Bihar has courted a controversy by giving an ‘‘insensitive’’ reply to students requesting free sanitary pads at an event held in the state capital Patna. According to reports, during a workshop on ‘Sashakt Beti, Samriddh Bihar’, Harjot Kaur Bhamra, who is the managing director of BWDC, was asked if the government can make sanitary pads for free. Chennai (Agencies): AIADMK’s veteran leader and former Minister Panruti S Ramachandran, was expelled from the party. This was announced by the par ty’s interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in a release that the action had been taken against Ram achandran, who had been functioning “against the party discipline” and in a manner that brought “disrepute”. YOUTUBER ARRESTED FOR UPLOADING MEMES Kolkata (Agencies): A YouTuber named Tuhin Mondal from Taher pur was detained on Monday by the Kolkata Police for reportedly posting derogato ry memes on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The content creator was taken into custody by Police’s Intelligence Branch at his home in Bapujinagar, which is near Taherpur police station.‘Anyone from AAP could be arrested, BJP scared of losing’GIRLS Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Mamata Banerjee Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
The ban on PFI is expected to cripple its funding, recruitment, and other activitiesBharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Arun Singh addressing media on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI ‘UNDEMOCRATIC...’: PFI AFFILIATE SAYS WILL CHALLENGE GOVT’S BAN
Kolkata: Tea exports dur ing the period January to July in the calendar year 2022 have touched 116.36 million kg as com pared to 103.38 million kg in the same period of 2021. According to Tea Board data, exports to the largest importing block, the CIS countries, re mained almost stagnant at 25.20 million kg as against 24.98 million kg in the first seven months of 2021. UAE emerged as a large importer at 19.14 million kg during Jan to July 2022, up from 8.07 million kg in 2021. —PTI
New Delhi (PTI): Ahead of assembly elections in Guja rat and Himachal Pradesh, the government on Wednes day extended by three months its programme to provide free rations to the poor at a cost of `44,762 crore as it looked to ease pain from high inflation.
The scheme to provide 5 kg of wheat and rice free of cost to 80 crore poor every month, which was ending on Friday, will now run through December 31, 2022, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said.
The Union Cabinet head ed by Prime Minister Nar endra Modi in a meeting on Wednesday decided to ex tend the scheme by three months, he said.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was started in April 2020 to help the poor whose livelihoods were
shuttered by a nationwide lockdown aimed at con taining the spread of the Coronavirus. The scheme has been extended multi ple times and was to end on Friday.
“At a time when the world is battling with the effects of Covid on its de cline and insecurity due to
z Under the free rations to the poor scheme, 5 kg of foodgrain per person per month is provided free of cost for all the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)
New Delhi: India needs to invest about $10 billion to boost cell manufacturing and raw material refining to meet domestic demand for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles by 2030, according to a re port. “By 2030, just to serve the local demand of Li-ion batteries, India would need upwards of an estimated $10 billion in vestments in cell manu facturing capacity, with additional investments in raw material refining ca pacities,” it said. —PTI
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee plunged below the 82 mark for the first time in day trade before settling down by 40 paise at 81.93 against the US dollar on Wednes day due to heavy forex out flows amid strengthening US treasury yields.
Moreover, a negative trend in domestic equities and a stronger dollar in overseas markets sapped investor appetite, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 81.90 and later fell to 82.02 to a dollar in day trade due to risk-averse senti ment among investors. The rupee finally settled at 81.93, its all-time low.
The Indian rupee hit a fresh record low against the dollar on Wednesday weighed down by a rise in US treasury yields and the
Mumbai (PTI): Benchmark indices ended nearly 1% lower on Wednesday, tracking a weak trend in global markets and continu ous foreign fund outflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 509.24 points or 0.89% to settle at 56,598.28. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined 148.80 points or 0.87% to end at 16,858.60.Among the 30-share Sensex pack, ITC, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC and HDFC Bank were the major laggards. Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s and Power Grid were among the winners.
ance Securities.
“However, the fall was less than at its Asian peers as the Reserve Bank of In dia intervened in the mar ket today,” Iyer said.
z According to Union Minister Anurag Thakur, 122 lakh tonne of foodgrains will be given out free of cost in three months starting from October 1
z The sixth extension of the pro-poor scheme comes ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh
Mumbai (PTI): Citing re vival in contact-intensive services and a pick-up in government and private expenditure, rating agency Icra on Wednesday re tained its previous growth forecast of 7.2% for the current fiscal.
Growth is expected to pick up to pre-Covid levels on the back of pent-up de mand, even though on an annualised basis, the abso lute numbers will be falling from Q1 (13.5%) to a much lower level in Q2 and fur ther down in the two re mainder quarters due to the high base, the agency said.
various reasons, India has been successfully main taining food security for its vulnerable sections while taking necessary steps to keep availability and affordability for com mon man,” an official statement said.
“Recognising that people have gone through a diffi cult period of pandemic, government has decided to extend PMGKAY for a pe riod of three months so that poor and vulnerable sections of society are sup ported for the forthcoming major festivals.”
Under this scheme, 5 kg of foodgrain per person per month is provided free of cost for all the benefi ciaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Thakur said the govern ment has so far spent `3.45 lakh crore on the PMGKAY
New Delhi: Over 100 million users in India with 5G-ready smartphones want to upgrade to 5G network in 2023 and many of them are willing to pay up to 45% premium, a study by Erics son said on Wednesday. The survey assumes significance as the countdown for 5G services availability has begun in India, the world’s secondbiggest smartphone market after China. —PTI
scheme since its launch in April 2020.
With the additional ex penditure of about `44,762 crore for the latest exten sion, the overall expendi ture of the PMGKAY will be about `3.91 lakh crore for all the phases, he said.
Thakur said 122 lakh tonne (12.2 million tonne) of foodgrains will be given out free of cost in the three months from October 1.
The total allocation of foodgrain for phases I-VII will reach about 1,121 lakh tonne (112.1 million tonne).
The sixth extension propoor scheme comes ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and also at a time when food inflation is rul ing at a high level.
The retail inflation in the food segment was 3.11 per cent in August last year.
New Delhi: The government has again extended the last date for export of broken rice in transit by 15 days till October 15. It first banned export of broken rice on Sept 8. “Export of consignments of broken rice...As permissible under notification dated September 8 has been…extended till Octo ber 15, 2022,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.
New Delhi: Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue mop-up in September is expected to be around `1.45 lakh cr, an official said.
Mumbai: Betting big on electric mobility, Tata Mo tors is gearing up to drive in a range of models across multiple price points as it expects the portfolio to account for more than 30% of its overall sales by the end of this decade. On Wednes day, the company expand ed its electric vehicle port folio in the country with the launch of Tiago EV with introductory prices for first 10,000 customers ranging between `8.4911.79 lakh. The company said 2,000 units will be reserved for the current owners of Nexon EV and Tigor EV. —PTI
New Delhi: Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani and OnlyFans’ Indian-ori gin CEO Amrapali Gan have been named by TIME magazine in the TIME100 Next list that recognises “rising stars from across industries and around the world.” The TIME100 Next list is inspired by the pub lication’s flagship TIME100 list of the world’s most powerful people. The TIME100 Next “recognises 100 rising stars from across indus tries & around world. —PTI
dollar, Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reli
Offshore Chinese yuan weakened by 0.90%, while Singapore Dollar weak ened by 0.48%, while the Korean Won weakened by 0.83% and were the worst performers amongst Asian peers..
At 7.2%, the number is marginally higher than most consensus forecast of 7% and 10 bps lower than what S&P forecast earlier this week. The RBI is wide ly believed to again lower its growth forecast at its Sep 30 MPC review.
New Delhi (PTI): India needs ‘fewer’ but stronger Public Sector Banks, and the smaller ones could be privatised or merged, for mer SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya has said.
Bhattacharya further said much of the goals that are expected to be achieved through privatisation of PSBs can also actually be achieved by enabling the
state-owned banks and by levelling the playing field.
“The thing is, privatisa tion has never been the an swer to all the ills,” she said while responding to a ques tion on former RBI gover nor D Subbarao’s sugges tion that the government should come up with a 10year road map for privati sation of all PSBs.
Subbarao had recently
New Delhi (PTI): The Re serve Bank’s rate-setting panel on Wednesday start ed deliberations on the keenly awaited monetary policy amidst expectation of 50 basis points hike in interest rate to check infla tion and improve foreign capital inflow to arrest de clining value of rupee against the US dollar.
The decision of RBI Gov ernor Shaktikanta Das headed six-member Mone tary Policy Committee (MPC) will be announced on September 30.
The government has
tasked the central bank to ensure the consumer price index (CPI) remains at 4% with a margin of 2% on ei ther side, but retail infla tion has stubbornly stayed above the RBI’s comfort zone since January.
As per the latest data, the inflation was at 7% in August.
suggested that the govern ment should come up with a 10-year road map for pri
vatisation of all PSBs as it would provide much need ed predictability to stake holders. “I don’t really be lieve that we need so many public sector banks either, the number of PSBs could be decreased. “Some of them could be privatised. And maybe you know, the stronger ones could still remain public sector banks,” said Bhattacharya.
“The collection in September is likely to be little more than `1.45 lakh cr. Improved business activity is expected to yield better collec tions in coming months,” the offi cial said. The mop-up in September last year was `1.17 lakh cr.The official further said as per estimates, the average yearly revenue from GST in 2022-23 is expected to be around `1.55 lakh cr.The collection in April was at a record high of `1.68 lakh cr.
New Delhi: India and the Netherlands have formu lated a mechanism for faster resolution of invest ment cases of Dutch companies operating here in the country. The DPIIT and the Embassy of the Netherlands have signed a joint statement to formalise the bilateral Fast Track Mecha nism (FTM). Invest India, the national investment promotion and facilitation agency, is the executing body of FTM. —PTI
New Delhi: Aggressive rate hikes by central banks glob ally to tame soaring inflation may prove counterpro ductive in the short run, Emkay Wealth Management said. Un derlining that geopolitical ten sions, soaring crude oil prices and worries around recession in the developed countries are some of the major risks threat ening the markets, Emkay Mgmt however said India fears no major risks.
Bengaluru (PTI): Online professional network LinkedIn on Wednesday re leased a list of the top 25 start-ups in India that have shown resilience in an un certain market environ ment, and are continuing to innovate in 2022.
Topping this year’s list is unified payments interface CRED. Valued at $6.4 bil lion, this young start-up maintained its podium po sition on the LinkedIn Top Startups list, moving from the third spot in 2021 to number one in 2022.
“Besides gaining popu larity for its quirky ads in
the past two years, CRED is also setting new bench marks for employee wellbeing by offering benefits such as ElderCare, egg freezing, and one-on-one
z Valued at $6.4 billion, Cred maintained its podium position on the LinkedIn Top Startups list, moving from third spot in 2021
z At second is one of India’s largest online higher education Cos - upGrad
support for mental well ness to its employees,” a LinkedIn statement noted.
The second spot on the list is taken by upGrad, one of India’s largest online
higher education compa nies that curates vast up skilling opportunities for professionals and college students, followed by Groww in third position.
AKASH AMBANI, GAN AMONG TIME100 NEXT LIST OF RISING STARSFirst India Bureau
Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Wednesday slammed the Bharati ya Janata Party (BJP) over its plan to organ ize ‘Marathi dandiya’ in areas dominated by Maharashtrians in Mumbai. It said that BJP is under an “illu sion” if it thinks the community’s unity can be undermined with such events.
The BJP has an nounced plans to organ ize ‘Marathi dandiya’ in Marathi-speaking areas during the ongoing Navratri festival.
At such dance events, mostly Marathi songs (instead of Hindi or Gu jarati) will be played for participants. The devel opment is seen as an at tempt by the BJP to woo Marathi votes—which have been traditionally with the Shiv Sena-ahead of the Mumbai
Police ask NHAI, other depts to repair Mum-Ahd hwy
Palghar: Alarmed at the number of acci dents taking place on the MumbaiAhmedabad Highway, the Palghar police have directed officials of the National High way Authority of In dia (NHAI) and other departments to carry out repair works on the highway within the next three weeks.
Palghar Rural Super intendent of Police (SP) Balasaheb Patil direct ed maintenance con tractors, officials of the Public Works Depart ment and NHAI offi cials to put needed in struction boards, and rumblers to limit the speed of the vehicles, install cat eyes for mo torists, install delinea tors and fill potholes within the next three weeks.
civic body polls.
In an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena said events like ‘Marathi dandiya’ are aimed at countering the party in its areas of in fluence in Mumbai.
“By organizing ‘Mar athi dandiya’ in Lal baug, Parel, Sewree,
Byculla, Parel and Maz gaon, Kamlabai (the name Shiv Sena has been using for the BJP of late) has been trying to woo the Marathi vot ers. After Ganeshotsav, the BJP is using Navratri for its political purpose. But it is their illusion if they think they can break the uni
ty of the community (with such events),” the editorial maintained.
Such events will not dent the Shiv Sena’s support among the Mar athi manoos (Marathispeaking people), said the newspaper.
“This is nothing but an attempt of the Dil lishwar (the term uses
for Delhi) to bring down the saffron flag,” it said.
The BJP has been us ing events like Gane shotsav and ‘Marathi katta’ (a place where ideas are exchanged) to woo the Marathi voters ahead of the crucial Brihanmumbai Munic ipal Corporation (BMC) polls, it said.
Mumbai: The Bom bay High Court said on Wednesday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out an impar tial and thorough in quiry into actor Jiah Khan’s suicide, but her mother was try ing to “delay the tri al” by insisting it was murder.
The observations, made available on Tues
The late actress’ mother Rabia Khan has insisted on probe by US agency FBI
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bom bay High Court on Wednesday reserved its judgment on the bail plea of former home minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh ar rested by the Enforce ment Directorate (ED) in a money laun dering case.
The judge stated that the court will try to deliver a judgment as soon as possible
that their grievance was not against the high court but against ED officers who sought long adjournments.
Opposing the bail plea, ASG Singh claimed that Deshmukh was accused of serious offences of corruption, the misuse of official position, and money laundering.
The bench said a case cannot go out of its ter ritorial jurisdiction and direct another coun try’s agency to conduct an investigation.
day, were made by a di vision bench in its or der dated September 12, dismissing a petition
filed by Rabia Khan seeking a fresh investi gation into the case, preferably by the Fed eral Bureau of Investi gation (FBI), the domes tic intelligence and se curity agency of the United States.
Currently, the case is being investigated by the CBI which charged actor Sooraj Pancholi, Khan’s boyfriend, for abetting her suicide on June 03, 2013.
Rabia Khan has been claiming that her daughter was mur dered.
A single-judge bench of Justice NJ Jamadar closed the plea for or ders after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh, appearing for ED, completed his arguments.
The judge stated the court will try to deliver a judgement soon.
The HC began hear ing the bail plea on Tuesday following di rections from the Su preme Court to hear and decide the same
expeditiously as it was pending for the last six months.
Referring to Desh mukh’s move to ap proach the apex court whenever there is a de lay in the bail plea hear ing, Justice Jamadar told the NCP leader’s counsel Vikram Chaud hari that the plea could have been mentioned for early hearing here.
Chaudhari explained
“The economic of fence is serious and it affects the financial strength of the country. So the court will have to say that the accused is not at all involved,” Sin gh said.
Refuting the demand of Deshmukh’s advo cates that he should have been released on bail considering his medical conditions and age, Singh said the for mer minister did not suffer from any ailment that cannot be treated at the prison hospital
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Maha rashtra government decided on Tuesday to withdraw a bill intro duced by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) administra tion that curtailed powers of the Gover nor in appointing of vice-chancellors in state universities.
The bill, passed by
the legislature last year, gave the Maharashtra government the author ity to recommend names for appointment as vice-chancellors in state universities to the Governor.
The decision to roll back the bill, that amended the Maha rashtra Public Univer sities Act, 2016, was taken at a state cabinet meeting chaired by
The decision to rollback the bill that amended the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016, was taken at a state cabinet meeting
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The previous Shiv Sena-led MVA govern ment amended the Act.
The amendment was intended to limit the Governor's powers, with whom the thenUddhav Thackeray-led government had an un easy relationship.
In December 2021, the state legislature passed the bill during the win
ter session. The bill was, howev er, not given an assent on the grounds it was against the provisions of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Considering this background, it was de cided to take back the bill, said an official statement issued after the cabinet meeting led by CM Shinde.
Mumbai: Since late July, the Mumbai po lice managed to nab seven prolific chainsnatchers against whom multiple cases have been registered.
The property cell of the crime branch on September 25 arrested Kabul Zafri (55) at Am bivli. The accused would allegedly pose as a tempo driver and snatch chains. As many as 36 cases have been filed against him not only in Mumbai but also in Thane, Nashik, Pune, Raigad and Ul hasnagar districts.
On September 18, the Bandra police arrested a husband and wife, Rakesh and Sita Mali, for snatching a child’s gold chain at the Ban
dra fair. The man swallowed the chain when cops
tried to nab him. An of ficer of the Bandra po lice station said, “The
Mumbai: Chain-snatching incidents not only result in the victim’s loss of jewelry or phones, but they can also be fatal. Several people have lost their life in clashes with criminals. Sahabai Ubale (52) of Ghatkopar was killed in September 2020 after crimi nals grabbed her chain and dragged her to the road. Ubale’s family members stated that she suffered multiple skull fractures and died after eight days of suffering. The accused were arrested by Pant Nagar police officers and have been lodged in jail since.
derway.”
On August 23, the Kasturba Marg cops re ceived a tip-off about two chain-snatchers. The accused, Jafar Yu suf Jafri and Firoz Na sir Shaikh, were arrest ed at Vitthalwadi and Ambivli respectively. Both have more than 20 cases of robbery regis tered against them.
duo hails from Ra jasthan and visits Mum bai during festivals to
snatch as many golden ornaments as possible. This time, they accused were caught red-hand
ed. Both of them se cured bail after three days and the investiga tion into the case is un
On July 25, the MHB Colony police arrested Qasim Mukhtar Irani from Ambivli. The ac cused was involved in more than 36 chainsnatching incidents.
Repeat offenders would evade arrest by using stolen vehicles, fleeing to their hometownKabul Zafri, Rakesh Mali, Sita Mali, and Qasim Mukhtar Irani are four of the seven offenders. Employees of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) attend a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) class conducted by a nurse from Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital inside a bus on Wednesday. The session was held on the eve of World Heart Day to educate staffers about heart diseases and emergency responses. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE Attempt aimed to woo Marathi voters away from Uddhav Thackeray-led group, mentioned the editorial. —FILE PHOTO
COMMUNITY, SAYS ‘SAAMANA’Dy CM Fadnavis, CM Shinde preside over a meet. —FILE PHOTO Jiah Khan —FILE PHOTO
Ilove melodrama which is why my favorite scene in Karz is when Durga Khote, mother of the Kiran recognizes his soul/ spirit in the young dash ing singer Rishi Kapoor. Ah! Bollywood Drama at its best in the hands of thespian Subhash Ghai. A reincarnation drama with amazingly sexy mu sic, woe betide me but Karz is a movie I have watched many times. Om Shanti Om is a song that has transcended genera tions, literally too with Ranbir Kapoor wooing to day’s generation as his fa ther did … Chalta nahi hai dil deke yaaron Iss dil pe zor koyi, Iss rog ka nahi hai ilaaj Duniya mein aur koyi … to gaao Om Shanti Om! Listen to it now and Laxmikant Pyarelal mu sic will start to flow in your veins immediately.
Dard-e-dil … aashiq ba naya aapne croons a super cute Rishi (who is named Monty of all the things) for a coquettishly smiling Tina Munim with police sirens blaring in the back ground, (you will have to watch the movie to know why I am not telling you).
Rishi plays a melan choly singer, an orphan tortured by snatches of music, a ramming jeep with a red heart sporting ‘Just Married’ and a flash ing image of Goddess Kali, all unfolds as he fol
lows his heart- the young ‘main solah baras ki’ Tina to Ooty. Fortunately, the romance between Rishi and Tina (irritatingly childish and in a school uniform) forms a minor part of the movie. The
This Throwback Thursday we bring you Karz, a classic masala movie with reincarnation, murder, romance, and more thrown in, watch it today, and bits of it will stay with you, forever! The signature tune of Karz is still bewitchingANITA
MARCH 21 - APRIL 20
You are very fortunate to have a great friend circle. You are very generous by nature and also you are the backbone of your family. Today is a favourable day for business. You may postpone your study plans. Be careful of the words that come out of your mouth. Your lover may finally say yes.
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You need help on academic front and you should not shy away from asking. Your spouse may make you spend more than you expected. Fantastic day for investing money in stock market as you can make fortune. You miss your parents a lot. Admit your faults in relationship.
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Best day to buy gold and silver or any precious metal for investment sake. You love to live close to your family. You are a child at heart and never let this child die. You have a big heart and you always help someone if you can. You miss your social circle like anything.
SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 22
Take stand where you need to, don’t run in the same direction where everybody else is going. Visit a doctor if you have any doubts about your health. Don’t attack stress even if you don’t have any. Let go of things that are not in your control. You want to have your own house and you will work hard.
NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22
You are opportunist and this will make you successful one day. Your spouse is someone who can do anything for your happiness. There may be delays in property possession and it won’t effect you. You are happy spending whole day at home. Help your mothers and give a reason to smile.
JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19
This is the best time try something new with life give yourself a new purpose. You will feel amorous towards your wife. Work on your limitations, there can be no better time than this. You have more opposite sex friends than the same and you may be judged sometimes but don’t care.
APRIL 21 - MAY 20
You must create an environment of understanding at home. You need a break from day to tensions and the way to cope up with stress is to meditate. You will succeed in any sort of examination if you put your heart and soul to it. Promotion can be expected even if other are not.
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Don’t make friends for money and status rather make friends who will stick with you forever. You care about you lover but somehow hesitate in expressing that care. On social front, you may have to spend some extra money in buying gifts for someone for some specific occasion.
AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23
You are a pro in your field and none can beat you. Female scorpios are lioness and women around are often jealous. You give tough competition to people. Many people get inspired by you. You will get special treatment from your dear ones. you will feel inspired today.
OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Never demotivate someone even if someone is not capable of doing something. You make sure to make things work your way. You are most wanted by your friends. You can have romantic affair in office and a serious one. You will invest money in clothes and accessories today.
DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20
Scrumptious food is what you are craving for today. You always maintain cordial relationship with everyone. You workout daily to keep yourself fit. You may start a side business to earn extra money. You are not a jealous kind and you feel happy for others.
FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20
Boisterous behaviour is what everyone needs right now, do whatever you can do to cheer everyone up. You will feel financially comfortable and infant you are in position to invest money in some new venture. Your personality will attract many eligible bachelors.
I get even!” Sadly, this statement is a guiding principle for many. Re fusing to talk and using the silent treatment as a weapon with which to punish deepens the grudge.
Ascholar once de scribed forgive ness as “the highest and most difficult of all moral les sons.” Some say, “People take advantage of you when you forgive them.” Others say, “that sounds fine in theory, but it is easier said than done.” Many feel that they will never be able to forgive. This is because reactions to personal of fences are often emo tional. A person feels a sense of betrayal, anger and a desire to take re venge. Forgiveness does not mean that we mini mize what has been done or pretend it never oc curred. Neither does it mean letting others take advantage of us.
Forgiveness is, ceas ing to feel resentment because it can do more damage to one’s health and marriage than the offence itself. It is a wellthought-out personal choice that reflects a de
done — the harsh words and thoughtless acts. As a result, affection gets replaced by resentment.
Harbouring ill-feeling is like slapping yourself and then expecting the other person to feel the pain. The other partner may be feeling just fine and not at all troubled by any of these feelings.
If one tends to rake up issues over minor mat ters, then one can ask oneself, ‘Could I be more patient with my part ner?’
Not every offence needs to be discussed; one can overlook it and choose to be silent.
One wife said, “When I feel hurt, I try to calm down first. Often, I real ize that the offence was not that serious. Focus
couples withhold for giveness to maintain a sort of power over their partner. Then, when a conflict arises, they use a past event as a trump card to gain the upper hand. Others feel, “If I forgive, I am inviting
in preventing a wide range of physical and emotional problems such as depression and high blood pressure.
A wife said, “One time my husband apologized for something that hurt me deeply. It was hard for me to forgive him. I eventually did but I re gret that I didn’t do it sooner. It brought im mense strain on our re lationship.”
One can be easily hurt if he/she is overly sensi tive. One therapist said: “If you have been hurt by your partner, it’s be cause you still care about him/her. So, by retreating, you are not only wounding your mate but destroying yourself. You further dismantle the relation
Bitterness is like rust that slowly corrodes any relationship. In every situation, a victim can weigh, “Do I remain in severe emotional tur moil, feeling intensely hurt and angry, until the matter is fully resolved?”
Putting off forgive ness leads to separation, often followed by feel ings of guilt and loneli ness. A husband who di vorced after fourteen years said, “The disad vantages far outweigh the delights of middle age life without marital ties. Silence can be loud in an empty house. One learns that the bark of the dog, the meow of a cat or the chirp of the bird is no substitute for a human voice… Friends do not close the awful gap that was once filled by someone called wife or husband.”
A working woman, di vorced and living by her self, had achieved the pinnacle of financial success. But she said, “It’s when I come home and close the door, and know that not a soul cares what I am doing or
NAMRATA SENANI GARG, Influencer YOUR DAY REKHA-KUMAR The writer is a personal development skills facilitator.
Hemant Sharma, News Director, TV9 Bharatvarsh celebrated his 61st birthday on Tuesday, September 27 at The Imperial, New Delhi. Greetings poured in for the senior journalist from politicians, colleagues and friends across. The gala night at Imperial was a get-together with memories, much laughter and sharing of anecdotes as family and friends gathered to celebrate the happy occasion.
—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN
Jagdeesh Chandra greets Hemant Sharma. Also seen are Ishaanee and Veena
Hemant Sharma cuts the cake flanked by Jagdeesh Chandra, Veena Sharma, Ishaanee Sharma, Usha Joshi, Pankaj Singh and Kumar Vishwas
Jagdeesh Chandra with Sumaira Khan
Hemant Sharma and Navneet Sehgal
Hemant Sharma greeted by Mohan Prakash
Ishaanee Sharma & Veena Sharma
Kumar Vishwas & Hemant Sharma
Jagdeesh Chandra with Dhruv Sehgal & Shiv Sehgal
Jagdeesh Chandra with Kamlesh Chaubey
(L-R) Veena Sharma, Kalpana Sahai and Pammi Sahni
Dayashankar Mishra and Prabhat Kumar
Hemant Sharma with Devesh Singh & Himanshu Singh
(L-R) Pankaj, Veena, Sushma and Ishaanee
Hemant Sharma with (L-R) Sushil Dwivedi, Kiran Dwivedi and Yashwant Deshmukh
Hemant Sharma with Yashi Shukla & Ishaanee Sharma
Dhruv Sehgal, Dinesh Gautam and Shiv Sehgal
The celebratory cake on the occasion
Rohit Sahai Harjeet Singh Sahni
Usha Joshi in conversation with Yashwant Deshmukh
Hemant Sharma and Kalpana Sahai
Usha Joshi & Hemant Sharma Hemant Sharma with (L-R) Dr Mahesh Sharma, Veena Sharma, Dr Uma Sharma and Pankaj Singh
The delicious cake of fruits and dry fruits
From being a model to host ing shows to dabbling in acting, Brit ish-born In dian actress Karishma Kotak has successfully created a niche for herself in the entertainment in dustry. In an exclusive conversation with Ashish Tiwari of First India, Karishma opened up about her upcoming films, work ing with Rohit Roy and What fitness and fash ion mean to her and her journey so far.
Karishma has been busy on the work front speaking on
the same she said, “ A lot of good things I have signed a couple of good projects one of which is the one I am currently shooting for with Bobby Deol and Ananya Birla directed by Kunal Kohli”
She also opened up on working with Bobby Deol, “I used to be a Huge bobby fan and today I re spect him so much, he is a great co-star always supportive and one does get to learn a lot from him. So when I was offered this film even with a small char acter role I would've done it
but as luck would have it being paired opposite him”
Switching careers from a Sports present er to acting is very dif ficult speaking about it she said, “ They are two different things completely a film has a script and you
It seems that the Sukesh Chan drashekhar case is been getting more complicated with more names be ing involved in the money laundering probe. Netizens were shocked when the name of television ac tor Nikki Tam boli cropped up. In a chargesheet filed by ED, it was report ed that the actor vis ited Chandrashek har in the Tihar jail and had received lakhs of rupees and several expensive gifts from him.
A report now sug gests that Nikki was taken inside the Tihar jail to recreate her meeting with
the conman. A team of Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing took her along with another actor named Sofia Singh to Tihar jail number one to recreate their meetings. The re port further sug gested that the jail had become a hub for illegal activities after Sukesh Chan drashekhar became an inmate. He along with the help of a few corrupt officials operated his outside illegal pursuits where many times several celebrities who came to visit him in their luxuri ous cars were of fered a pass to meet him.
Social media platforms were flooded with tributes to the legendary musician Lata Mangeshkar's 93rd birthday. She died on Febru ary 6, 2022, while being treat ed at Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital. Late Lata was one of the trending topics on Twit ter on Wednesday, as fans shared previ ously unseen photos of her and remi nisced about their fa vourite songs by the singer. "On the oc casion of the birth anniversary of LataDidi, In dia's Nightin gale and Bharat Rat na." "Lata Man geshkar," Ganpat
There are times when A-list actors unexpect edly cross paths with A-list models, igniting a spark and Leonardo DiCap rio and Gigi Hadid stay wit ness to this. Now rumours claim that Brad Pitt and newly single Emily Ratajkowski are roman tically involved. They have been spending time to gether but aren’t officially dating. A source claimed in late August about Pitt and Ratajkowski, “He asked her out, and she said yes. She’s
always thought Brad was cute, and the way she saw it, what did she have to lose?”
Brad is still in a legal tangle with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie. He often meets his kids when he is in LA. The doting father and the children often have dinner together.
it and as a sports pre senter is be ing who you are at the time one needs to their discretion to wards the situ ation. But both of them require great confidence”
The diva who hails from Lon don speaks about work ing here, “For me, it has not been as diffi cult as I am based
between London and Mumbai and luckily a lot of shoots and events happen in the UK. In to day’s time, it is much easier to travel back and forth as per the work re quirements”.
Spilling the beans on her personal life she shared,” I am an early riser, A Gymaholic. I complete 10 thousand steps by 10 am. I am an avid reader with a close circle of friends. They are my backbone when I feel low”
The ex-big boss con testant has many upcom ing projects lined up. She has Ira with Rohit Roy and Mister Mummy with Ritiesh and Genelia.
Ranbir Kapoor has turned a year old er and wiser as he celebrates his 40th birthday on Septem ber 28. Wishes and love for the actor have been pouring in from fans, friends and loved ones. In the chaos of birthday wishes, there was one such post that warmed everyone’s hearts. Moth er Neetu Kapoor shared an adorable photo with her ‘Shakti Astra’ along with a heartfelt note. The actor wrote, “This has been quite a milestone year for You for the US !!!
Miss your father as he would have been the hap piest proudest I'm sure he is orchestrating from up there !!! Happy birthday love you the mostestttt rana you are my Shakti
Charan, a Twitter user, wrote. "Congratulations on
Neetu Kapoor’s post...
Late Lata Mangeshkar
Karishma Kotak
Nikki Tamboli
Emily Ratajkowski
Katrina Kaif
ADITI CHAVAN cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in