First India-Delhi Edition-29th November 2022

A MACABRE TALE!

New Delhi: While the country is still recover ing from the shock of the barbaric murder of Shraddha Walkar, wherein her live-inpartner Aftab Amin Poonawala brutally strangulated and chopped her into 35 pieces, a similar case from Delhi’s Pandav Nagar has been report ed on Monday. A woman and her son were ar rested by the Crime Branch in Delhi’s Pan dav Nagar for murder ing her husband.

Cops revealed that the mother, Poonam and stepson, Deepak chopped off husband’s Anjan Das body into 10 pieces & stored in a re frigerator. Every day, after that the duo threw the pieces of the dead body in different areas of Pandav Nagar.

READ Crucial

The woman and her son have con fessed to the grisly crime. They first spiked his drink and killed him once he was unconscious. The woman Poonam was furious after she learnt that her husband Anjan Das had sold her jewellery and sent the money to his first wife, who lived in Bihar.

—Amit Goel, DCP — Crime, Delhi

SHRADDHA MURDER CASE UPDATES

Top court ‘Unhappy’ over NJAC, Rijiju’s remarks

Bench asks why govt was not clearing names recommended by collegium for judicial appointments and says government should not force it to “take a judicial decision in this regard”

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Su preme Court on Mon day objected to remarks made by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju about the collegium system of appointing judges to the higher ju diciary. A bench com prising Justices SK Kaul and AS Oka also asked why the govern ment was not clearing names recommended by the collegium for ju dicial appointments.

In its order in April last year, the apex court had said the Centre should appoint judges within three-four weeks if the Collegium reiter ates its recommenda tions unanimously. The court asked the attor ney general R Venkata ramani and the solici tor general Tushar Me hta to play a role and advise govt so that rule of law is observed.

Gujarat’s progress is based on our unity: Modi

Prime Minister Naren dra Modi took a dig at the Congress party and said the party must shun its “divide and rule” strategy to win back trust of the people of Gujarat on Monday.

Addressing a poll rally in Palitana town of Bhavnagar, he said, Whether it is a village or a city in Gujarat, the atmosphere of unity has become the nature of Gujarat. This land of Kutch is land of skill, it

VINAY M KWATRA GETS

16-MONTH EXTENSION

AS FOREIGN SECRETARY

New Delhi: Foreign secy Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been granted a 16-month extension in post beyond his date of superannuation on December 31 this year.

“Committee has approved extension in service to Vinay Mohan Kwatra, as Foreign Secy till 30.04.2024,” a government order said.

CHINA’S LOCKDOWN

PROTESTS SPREAD TO CAMPUSES AND CITIES

Hong Kong: Protests against China’s strict zero-Covid policy and restrictions on freedoms have spread to at least a dozen cities around the world in a show of solidarity with rare displays of defiance in China over the weekend. Protests spread in cities in Europe, Asia, America, London, Paris etc.

is land of duty, it is the land of determination.

Congress did the work of widening the gap be tween city and villages,

PM said in Anjar. In 2023, whole world is go ing to celebrate this big grain year, he said, add ing govt of trust is BJP.

NARENDRA MODI HAS MADE THE COUNTRY SECURE, SAYS AMIT SHAH

Vadodara: Addressing a piblic rally in Savli, Vadoda ra, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, ‘Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made the country secure. During Congress’ rule, our soldiers were beheaded. Now, an airstrike is done after entering Pakistan. A message has been sent - if you do something to us, we won’t leave you.’ “Decked in gold, the Somnath temple in Gujarat is giving a message to the world that if you have the courage, then come and try to loot again,” added Home Minister Amit Shah.

It appears that Centre is unhappy that its law NJAC Act (National Judicial Appointments Commis sion) could not pass judicial test but that cannot be reason not to comply with what is law of the land. You are effectively frustrat ing method of appt. Govt sometimes picks just 1 name, this disturbs the seniority. For last 2 months, the whole thing has come to a standstill.

—The Top Court Bench

l Andhra Pradesh HC cannot be a ‘ town plan ner’ and an ‘engineer’, SC observed on Monday and stayed the former’s order to develop Amravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.

It has given the state govt a deadline 6 months to carry out the task.

l The Centre told the Su preme Court that the right to freedom of religion does not include a fundamental right to convert people to a particular religion. The Centre said 9 state govern ments have already have

legislations in place on the present subject.

l NGT on Monday rejected Noida Authority review petition against green tribunal order directing authority to pay a Rs 100 crore compensa tion for failing to prevent untreated sewage from flowing into Kondli irriga tion canal before it emp ties into Yamuna river.

No legal compulsion to get vaccinated; gov ernment cannot be held liable for deaths from Covid vaccine: Centre to SC.

HC seeks LG’s response on Jasmine Shah plea

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Lt Gover nor VK Saxena and the Delhi government were asked by Delhi High Court on Monday to re ply on a plea by the state think-tank DDCD’s vice chairman Jasmine Shah challenging an or der restraining him from discharging his duties and sealing his office. Justice Prathiba M Singh asked the LG,

Director (Planning) of Delhi government, SDM, Civil Lines and the Chairperson of DDCD to file their coun ter affidavits respond ing to the petition.

“Without a counter affidavit, how will I deal with the allegations?

You file your respons es,” the judge said. The HC listed the matter for December 13. Shah has challenged the November 17 order of Director (Planning), on the LG’s request to CM Kejriwal to remove him from the post of

vice chairperson of the Dialogue and Develop ment Commission of Delhi, and pending such a decision, to re strain him from using his office and withdraw the staff and facilities assigned to him.

In his petition, Shah

has said the orders against him are a “gross abuse of power and pro cess”, “wholly without any merit, an instance of colourable exercise of authority, illegal, ex facie malafide and pa tently lacking in juris diction.

Shah has said the orders against him are a ‘gross abuse of power & process’

LG Vinai Kumar Saxena, CM Arvind Kejriwal and Jasmine Shah.

SUKESH ALLEGES THREATS BY JAIL ADMN —FILE PHOTO

New Delhi: Server of Delhi AIIMS remained affected for 6th day on Monday. The hackers have allegedly demanded an estimated `200 crore in cryptocurrency from hosp, sources said. However, Police said hosp has not told them about any such ransom demand.

THAKUR: HOPE TO INTERNATIONALISE

REGIONAL CONTENT SOON

Goa: Union I&B Minister Anurag Singh Thakur while addressing audience on last day of IFFI said, ‘IFFI not only entertain but educates too, its strength increasing every year. I’m hopeful that in future it will be grander so that we can internationalise regional content.’

WORLD’S 1ST NASAL COVID VAX GETS CDSCO NOD

ANOTHER DELHI SHOCKER: ON LINES OF SHRADDHA-LIKE MURDER

Moni Sharma

Cops arrested mother-son duo for ‘killing father, chopping body into 10 pieces and then dumping’

Delhi Special CP Crime Ravinder Yadav said that Anjan was killed sometime before Jun 5

A team of NDR of Crime Branch, RK Puram, arrested a woman, Poonam and her son, Deepak for killing her husband, Anjan Das on June 5 in Trilokpuri, in New Delhi on Monday. PHOTO BY ANI

COLLEGIUM CAN’T EXPECT GOVT TO ACCEPT ALL RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAKES: RIJIJU

Delhi Police has recovered the weapon allegedly used by Aaftab Amin Poon awala to cut the body of his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar l His Narco test will be conducted on De cember 5 l A police van carrying Aaftab Poonawala to FSL lab in Delhi’s Rohini for second polygraph test was attacked on Mon day evening l Two men who attacked the police van have been detained. More on P3

U nion Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Nov 26 had said that the collegium system is not in consonance with the Constitution. “You tell me under which provision the col legium system has been prescribed,” he had said. Rijiju added that the collegium cannot expect the government to simply accept all the recommendations it makes.

YS JAGAN REDDY’S SIS HELD AFTER CLASH BETWEEN SUPPORTERS

Hyderabad: YS Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was arrested on Wednesday, following a clash between her supporters and workers of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Warangal district of Telangana.

Palitana/Bhavnagar/ Rajkot/Jamnagar:

PM

PM Narendra Modi waves at supporters in the presence of ex-Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani & others during public meeting in Rajkot on Monday.

OTHER COURT ORDERS OF DAY

Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a public meeting in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Indian and Australian Armies began their joint military exercise Austra-Hind 2022 at Rajasthan’s Mahajan Field Firing Ranges (MFFR) in Bikaner on Monday. The exercise will end on December 11.

AAP will win over 92 seats in Guj: Kejriwal

First India Bureau

Surat: “There is a huge craze for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) among women and youth in Gujarat as it vows to tackle inflation and un employment,” said Del hi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal here on Monday, claiming his party would win more than 92 seats out of total 182 in the next month's Gujarat As sembly polls.

Kejriwal, who inter acted with diamond traders here expressed

confidence they will vote for AAP even though they are not say ing so openly "due to the fear of the Bharatiya Janata Party".

“All our surveys show we are much ahead of BJP in the support of youth and women. I ap peal to them to ask all members of their fami lies to vote for AAP. The AAP will form the next government. We will win more than 92 seats," he told reporters.

The campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elec

tions scheduled for De cember 1 ends on No vember 29. Polling for the second and final phase will be held on December 5 and the votes will be counted on December 8.

"Inflation and unem ployment are the two biggest issues affecting the people, and we are offering time-bound so lutions to these issues.

No other party is talk ing about the issues af

fecting the people," he said.

"There is a huge craze for AAP among women and youth, as we are get ting magical results in our survey within these two sections. I would re

Jain withdraws plea for action against ED

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Delhi’s jailed minister Saty ender Jain on Monday withdrew the contempt plea moved against ED in connection with the alleged leak of his Tihar CCTV footage to the media.

Advocates Rishikesh Kumar and Mohd Ir shad, appearing for Jain apprised the special court that the minister wished to withdraw the contempt plea. The counsel told Special Judge Vikas Dhull that they would move appro priate forum for relief in the matter, after which the court allowed withdrawal of the appli cation. Jain recently moved the court seeking contempt action against ED alleging that ED leaked the CCTV video despite the undertaking given in the court.

During a bail hearing earlier, the ED had ac cused Jain of getting special treatment inside the jail. The court had earlier ordered the ED as well as Jain's legal team not to leak any content of affidavits and video in this regard, and had taken their un dertakings. The court had, however, refused to put any restriction on or pass any direction to the media. The court had on November 17 de nied bail to Jain and two

others in the case. The federal agency had ar rested the accused in a money laundering case based on a CBI FIR lodged against Jain.

Haryana CM Khattar targets Kejriwal for not removing Satyendar Jain

New Delhi (PTI): Tar geting Delhi chief min ister Arvind Kejriwal for not removing jailed AAP leader Satyendar Jain from the cabinet, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said that if he does not do it either the court will or people will "beat up and re move" him.

Jain is lodged at the Tihar jail since May 31 in a money laundering case registered by the ED. Khattar, while cam paigning for the BJP's

December 4 Municipal Corporation of Delhi poll candidate in Shastri Nagar, hit out at Kejri wal, alleging that he is used to "cheating and ly ing". "I have been a vic tim of this as the chief minister of Haryana," the Haryana Chief Min

ister said, citing the is sues of water supply to Delhi from his state and crop residue burning.

Kejriwal earlier used to cry over crop residue burning in Haryana and Punjab, and blame farm ers in these states when air pollution levels in creased in Delhi. "Satel lite images show there is no pollution from Hary ana due to crop residue burning, but there is an AAP govt in Punjab where crop residue is still being burnt," the senior BJP leader said.

New Delhi (ANI): In a creative twist to the controversy involv ing Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain's pur ported jail cell CCTV footage, the BJP has come out with a popular American series 'Prison Break' inspired poster, where the faces of original actors have been replaced with those of Delhi CM Kejriwal and Jain. The poster tweeted from Delhi BJP han dle, juxtaposes the original poster with the re-imagined ver sion, under the title 'Prison mein Break' followed by the line, 'Aap Ka Tihar Darbar Series. "In USA: Pris on Break series In Delhi: Prison (meN) Break series Relax, Rejuvenate, Rejoice in Tihar courtesy AAP govt," read the Tweet from BJP Delhi.

SPIRITUAL CALL

quest them to get every vote of your family to broom (AAP's election symbol)," the AAP's na tional convener said. He said the people of Gujarat do not love him, state AAP president Go

pal Italia or chief min isterial face Isudan Gadhvi but extending support because they feel AAP can resolve their issues and it has delivered it in Delhi and Punjab.

"Women are voting for us because for the first time a party (AAP) has come up with an as surance to give them relief from inflation," Kejriwal added.

He claimed women are turning supporters of AAP because the party has promised electricity bill waiver and also assured to not allowing private schools to raise fees during the next five years like it has done in Delhi, besides free and quality education and

healthcare which will help households save money.

Youth are supporting the party because AAP promised to stop com petitive exam question paper leaks and take ac tion against the culprits and assurances of job creation and Rs 3,000 un employment allowance, he said.He said AAP will win more than 7-8 seats in Surat, a BJP bastion.

Italia, Gadhvi and other candidates, in cluding Alpesh Kathiri ya from Varachha (in Surat city), are winning by a huge margin, the AAP leader said.

Kejriwal alleged trad ers feel "threatened, abused, insulted, and subject to extortion" in the BJP rule.

Cop assault: Order on ex-Cong MLA's bail plea reserved

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Delhi Police on Monday received an email claiming a bomb had been placed on a school campus in south Delhi, officials said. Police said the e-mail was received on Monday regarding the bomb placed in Indian Public School, Sadiq Nagar. Po lice rushed to the school with the bomb disposal squad and dog squad. The campus was evacu ated and a thorough search was indertaken, police said.

However, nothing has been recovered. It seems to be a mischief, the of ficer said, adding that the details of the e-mail are being checked.

New Delhi (PTI): A metropolitan court here on Monday re served its order on the bail plea of former Con gress legislator Asif Khan, arrested for al legedly manhandling a police officer.

Metropolitan Magis trate Shikha Chahal will pass the order on Tuesday. Khan was sent to 14 days' judicial cus tody on Saturday after being arrested for alleg edly misbehaving with a police officer and manhandling him.

An FIR was regis tered against him at Shaheen Bagh police station under sections 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and

353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the In dian Penal Code.

CBI arrests Andhra man posing as its Joint Director in Delhi

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Cen tral Bureau of Investi gation (CBI) on Mon day arrested a man staying at Tamil Nadu Bhawan posing as a joint director in the probe agency. The im poster was identified as Kovvi Reddy Srinivas Rao of Chinnawaltair in Vishakhapatnam.

He used to demand gifts from private indi viduals assuring them of lobbying with uni dentified public serv ants on their behalf for

getting favourable re sponse in various mat ters, including in cases registered by different central probe agencies, they said. It is alleged Rao posing as a senior IPS officer allegedly met six persons after coming to the city on Nov 22 on various occasions, alleg

edly offering them fa vourable outcome in various matters, they said. From offering em ployment to allowing entry of goods vehicles of a private company during no-entry hours in NCR, Rao assured solu tions to problems faced by his victims, they said.

Forest dept allows vehicular movement inside wildlife sanctuary

lll

Forest and Wildlife department allowed Radha Soami Satsang Beas to use the road for the three-day event after depositing ` 2.5 lakh

New Delhi (PTI): In a questionable move, the Delhi government’s Forest department per mitted vehicular move ment on a road passing through the Asola Bhat ti Wildlife Sanctuary for people from Hary ana to attend a spiritual event.

The organisers -- Rad ha Soami Satsang Beas -- said the Forest and Wildlife department al lowed them to use the road for the three-day event on the condition

of depositing Rs 2.5 lakh and planting 5,000 saplings.

According to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the chief wildlife warden may, on applica tion, grant a permit to any person to enter or reside in a sanctuary for “investigation or study of wildlife, pho tography, scientific re search, tourism or transaction of lawful business with any per son residing in the sanctuary”.

A permit to enter or reside in a sanctuary is issued subject to such conditions and on pay ment of such fee as may be prescribed, the Act stipulates.

People aware of the matter said the decision was surprising consid ering that the organisa tion’s south Delhi cam pus was directly con nected to Gurugram

and Faridabad.

The road for which permission was grant ed is only used for pa trolling, they said.

“This was the first time that traffic move

ment was allowed on the four-metre-wide road, which is used for patrol ling purposes only,” a Forest department source said.

Radha Soami Satsang

Beas, Bhati, General Secretary HC Yadav said they sought permis sion to use the road passing through the sanctuary for ease of travel for travellers from Gurugram and Faridabad. The main roads connecting the or ganisation’s south Delhi

campus to Gurugram and Faridabad see long traffic jams at the time of the satsang, he said. “We were granted per mission to use the road for the event after depos iting Rs 2.5 lakh. We have also been asked to plant 5,000 saplings,” Ya dav said. The three-day event ended on Sunday.

A senior Forest de partment official said vehicles could enter the sanctuary after paying a fee but only during the daytime.

We sought permission to use the road for ease of travel for travellers from Guru gram and Faridabad

—HC

Yadav, Gen secretary, Radha Soami

n Delhi CM says they are much ahead of BJP in support of youth & women n ‘AAP offering time-bound solutions to inflation, unemployment’

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at a road show in Surat on Monday. —PHOTO BY TWITTER

DEVELOPMENT PEG

BJP LAMPOONS VIDEOS WITH POSTER INSPIRED BY ‘PRISON BREAK’

The CCTV footage showing Satyendar Jain getting foot massage in Tihar jail. —FILE PHOTO

The minister had recently moved the court seeking contempt action against ED

He had alleged that ED leaked the CCTV video despite the undertaking given in the court

The ED had accused Satyendar Jain of getting special treatment inside the jail cell

A CCTV footage of minister Satyendar Jain getting a massage in Tihar Jail emerged earlier this month, followed by several other video clips

Khan was sent to judicial custody after being arrested for misbehaving with a cop

Delhi school receives bomb threat in e-mail

Internal survey shows party will win 170 seats: Delhi BJP MCD POLLS

n The MCD polls will be held on December 4

n The survey was held between Nov 13 - November 25

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Making a statement on the up coming Municipal Cor poration of Delhi (MCD) polls, a senior BJP leader on Monday claimed that their inter nal survey has shown that the lotus will bloom in 170 seats out of 250 seats, and is going to emerge victorious in the polls next month.

The elections for 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will be held on December 4. Results will be declared on December 7.

The survey having a sample size of 43,750 voters was conducted between November 13 and November 25, Del hi BJP media head Harish Khurana.

"The survey conduct ed in all the 250 wards shows that the BJP is going to win 170 seats.

There are 150 wards where BJP is in a very strong position while there are 20-25 other wards where the party has an edge over other parties," Khurana said.

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta had said during campaigning on Sunday that the BJP would win 180 wards in the MCD elections.

There are 150 wards where BJP is in very strong position while there are 2025 other wards where the party has edge over other parties. —Harish Khurana, BJP media head

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has claimed that his party will win 200 wards in the MCD polls. He had also said that the BJP would not win more than 20 seats in the elec

tions. The BJP in 2017 municipal corporation elections won 181 of the 270 wards where voting was held, routing the AAP and Congress. The AAP had bagged 48 wards while Congress was restricted to 30 mu nicipal wards.

CONG DELHI UNIT PROMISES TO RESTORE CHHAT GHATS TO WOO PURVANCHALIS AHEAD OF POLLS

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Delhi unit of Congress has promised to restore Chhat ghats on the banks of the Yamuna and provide other fa cilities for them to hold their festival without hurdles in a bid to woo Purvancha li voters.

The Congress' Del hi unit chief Anil Chaudhary alleged that CM Arvind Kejri wal had "betrayed" the Purvanchalis living in the national capital with false promises and prevented them

from holding their most auspicious festi val. He claimed that the Congress in Delhi under Sheila Dikshit had set up the Chhat ghats for Purvancha lis and also estab lished Mythili and Bhojpuri academies.

"The Kejriwal gov ernment failed to check rising air and water pollution for the

past eight years de spite selling the rosy dream of making Del hi like London, Paris and Singapore.The Yamuna water is toxic and highly contami nated, causing severe health problems to Delhiites, particularly the children and the elderly," he said.

The BJP, AAP and the Congress are all making efforts to woo Purvanchalis, who make up one of the largest vote banks in Delhi, as campaign ing for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls intensifies.

AAP WILL WIN MORE THAN 230 OUT OF 250 SEATS, SAYS RAGHAV CHADHA

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party is confi dent of getting over 230 seats out of 250 in the coming Municipal Cor poration of Delhi (MCD) polls, the AAP leader Raghav Chadha said.

“People are glad and ready to throw out this corrupt BJP from the municipal corpora tions. And with this huge support, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is

going to win the MCD election by a huge mar gin. ,” he said during a

party

port for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, Chaddha held a series of public-outreach events in the city. He said now is the time to have an AAP govern ment at the state as well as at the munici pal corporation level.

“The choice in front of the public is very clear. They have to choose between Kejri wal’s ‘10 guarantees’ that will help clean the city, provide salaries on

time to safai karam charis and so on, and the BJP’s ‘10 fake videos’.

“We will leave it to the people to decide who they want to vote for... I am certain the the AAP will win big this time in the MCD and will go on to get at least 230 out of 250 seats,” he asserted.

The AAP held out reach campaigns in over 160 areas of Delhi under its MCD election bid on Sunday.

AIR QUALITY IN CITY VERY POOR

New Delhi (PTI): The air quality in the city was recorded in the very poor category on Monday, while the minimum temperature settled at 7.6 de grees Celsius, two notches below the season's aver age. The air quality index (AQI) at 9.10 am was 324. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe. The relative humidity at 8.30 am was 85 per cent. The weather office has forecast mainly clear sky for the day while the maximum temperature is likely to settle around 27 degrees Celsius.

A red entry was made if someone burnt stubble, says Punjab Minister

Surat (ANI): BS Jim pa , Punjab’s water minister on Monday said that his depart ment issued a notifica tion that if anyone burnt stubble, a red en try was made against Khasra Number of revenue record.

“Don’t have full knowledge of notifica tion since I’m busy here, but there was a notifica tion from my dept that if someone burnt stub ble, a red entry was made. It’s not our inten tion to get a red entry for anyone, our aim was to make farmers aware about not burning stub ble,” Punjab’s Water Minister Jimpa said.

Kuldeep Singh Dhali wal, Punjab’s minister for agriculture and

farmers’ welfare, has ordered that the red en tries that the state’s farmers had been given by the federal govern ment to burn stubble have been withdrawn. He said that the Na tional Green Tribunal (NGT), a major institu tion, had rescinded the directives it had issued in a letter dated October 4, 2022, ordering red en tries to be made against the Khasra Number of income records.

Over 3,300 dengue cases, nearly 1,150 in Nov Police van carrying Aaftab attacked, 2 held

First India Bureau

New Delhi: At least two men carrying swords at tacked the police van carrying Shraddha Walkar murder accused Aftab Ameen Poonawa la. The men wearing hoodies and saffron ban dana on their forehead claimed they were from ‘Hindu Sena’ and at tacked the van near the FSL office on Monday.

According to reports, police have detained the two men who attacked the police. The two men, were seen wielding their swords vehement

ly at the police van car rying Poonawala. The vehicle was driv en out of the spot while the attackers were de

tained and their weap ons seized, the police said. The Delhi Police has recovered one more weapon allegedly used

New Delhi (PTI): Over 1,100 dengue cases have been reported in the na tional capital in the first three-and-a-half weeks of November, taking the infection tally of the vectorborne disease to more than 3,300 so far this year, according to a civ ic report issued on Monday. In October, 1,238 cases were logged.

by accused Aftab Ameen Poonawala to cut the body of his livein partner Shraddha Walkar on Monday.

The dengue infection tally stood at 3,044 till November 18, and 279 more cases have been recorded since then till November 25. The city has also recorded 230

RISKY ROADS

cases of malaria and 44 cases of chikungunya this year, according to the report released by the Municipal Corpora tion of Delhi (MCD). Of the total of 3,323

has been reported so far this year due to the disease while in 2021, dengue claimed 23 lives, the report said.

In 2015, the city wit nessed a massive den gue outbreak, with the number of cases cross ing 10,600 in October. It was Delhi's worst den gue outbreak since 1996.

reported cases, 693 were logged in September.

In 2017, the city logged 4,645 cases in the January 1-Novem ber 25 period, the re port stated. No death

According to the MCD report issued on Monday, the city re corded 23 dengue cases in January, 16 in Febru ary, 22 in March, 20 in April, 30 in May, 32 in June, 26 in July, and 75 in August.

India’s poor road safety record puts to shame her technological strides

Delhi-NCR

Diptiman Chakraborty

New Delhi: This year till October, there have been at least 354 report ed deaths due to road mishaps in Delhi-NCR region. In isolation, the numbers may sound high, but more chilling is the fact that the city and its surroundings see as many as 1,0001,200 deaths on an aver

age every year due to road accidents. It goes without saying that most road accidents are preventable and hun dreds of lives have been lost where actually they could have been saved had there been better accident relief mecha nisms in place. But the first priority is to pre vent accidents. Why is India the accident capi

tal of the world? At least one out of 10 people killed on roads across the world is from India, according to the World Health Organisation.

Several reasons are attributed to the high incidence of road acci dents in India— lack of proper road infrastruc ture like proper curva ture, gradient, slopes, signage etc. being some of them. However, sur prisingly 65 per cent of accidents have been found to be taking

place on straight roads; potholed and steep roads accounting for just 15 per cent. Data for 2020 shows 72 per cent accidents and 67 per cent of fatalities took place under sun ny/clear weather.

Therefore, more than blaming our road condi tions, which are rather improving by the day, it is our road manners and driving sensibilities that purportedly need to be addressed on priority. Unauthorised parking,

often on wrong side of the road, causes a large number of accidents. So does speeding, un planned overtaking ma neuvers, drunk driving and odd habits like not wearing seat belt while on the move or not turn ing on the indicators when required or jump ing red light. These are chronic and widespread habits which, unless checked through educa tion and tough penalties, will continue to cause accidents and fatalities.

OVER 1L DEATHS EVERY YEAR

Around 3.5 lakh ac cidents are reported annually, leading to the death of around 1.3 lakh people, apart from those thousands who are left injured & crip pled for life. The most affected age group in accidents is 18-45 years, which accounts for about 70% of total accidental deaths.

First India Bureau

‘padayatra’ at Ke shavpuram. Drumming up sup

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha during a road show for the MCD polls in Delhi.  —FILE PHOTO

Dengue patients getting treated at a ward of a government hospital, in the city. —FILE PHOTO

A man carrying a sword who claims to be from Hindu Sena attacks the Police van carrying Aftab Poonawalla, accused in the Shraddha Walker murder case, while taking him back from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), where he was brought for a polygraph test, in New Delhi on Monday.

Vehicles stuck in a heavy traffic jam on Delhi-Gurugram Expressway, in Gurugram on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI

BY ANI

Tnarrator shares the wisdom and insights gained through her several interactions with PM Modi. From his humility and ease of conversa tion, his passion for education, love for technology and above all, his advice that we should never lay claim on things that don’t rightfully belong to us, the narrator brings out the various facets of PM Modi’s ver satile personality.

The first time I got an opportunity to meet him, he met me with a ques tion. As I entered his cabin, he asked me “Is Kishorilal still working as a teacher?” “No, no! Now he is Princi pal”, I responded. Then I narrated to Modiji what Kishorilalji always said to me. He has always told me that it isn’t possible to get in touch with Narendra Modi and that I cannot talk to him if I wish to. But I remember myself retorting with “Well, whoev er told you that!” I immediately picked up my phone and dialled Narendra bhai. Within two min utes I received a call back from one of the karyakartas saying that Narendra bhai would like to speak with me. Kishorilalji was absolutely amazed to see how quick the response was from Modiji’s office!

From his humility and ease of conversation, Modi’s passion for education, love for technology and above all, his advice that we should never lay claim on things that don’t rightfully belong to us, the narrator brings out the various facets of PM Modi’s versatile personality

After listening to my rendition of this conversation with Kishorilalji, Naren dra bhai asked me “Do I not have two ears? Do I not have two eyes and a nose? Don’t I have a heart? If I do, then what stops me from communi cating, interacting and connecting with people?” This is what defines Modiji. His nature and temper are simple and unassuming. His posi tion in life does not stop him from interacting with people with ease and warmth. And what is most en dearing about Modiji is that he re members incidents from years ago. Narendra bhai asked me about Kishorilalji who was in touch with him more than 25 years back. Kisho rilalji is my uncle and is 65 years old now. Modiji must have got acquaint ed with him during his karyakarta days. This interaction with Modiji remains etched in my mind. It was my good fortune that I got

PM Modi, a man carved in ethos of justice & fairness

Whenever Narendra bhai visited the Prashikshan Varg, he had a unique way of keeping his clothes prim and proper. When everyone would go off to sleep, Narendra bhai would then take off his kurta and iron it. But the irony is that there used to be no iron! So what would he do? He would use a globular water container to this purpose, which is commonly known as the ‘lota’. He would fill it up with hot water and straighten the creases by using the ‘lota’ in place of an iron.

It was my good fortune that I got to meet Narendra bhai several times while he was Chief Minister. I have always been associated with the education department. Working with children for their development has been a passion for me. Once, I recollect, I had to resolve an issue regarding provision of nutritious food for children.

to meet Narendra bhai several times while he was Chief Minister. I have always been associated with the edu cation department. Working with children for their development has been a passion for me. Once, I recol lect, I had to resolve an issue regard ing provision of nutritious food for children. I went to meet Narendra bhai for the same and while I was waiting outside to meet him, I came to know that an agency had paid a

visit to him regarding this issue. I remember the tip he gave me to this day “Taste the food. If you find it palatable, be sure that children will love it too.” And more than that, he said something that touched me to the core. He said “This is something that I have no right over. Only chil dren have the right over these and this food rightfully belong to them. Therefore, I cannot even partake even a morsel of this food.” The crux

of his message was that the rightful owner of something alone must get to use it. No one else can lay claim to even the tiniest piece of that thing. This indeed has been one of the big gest lessons that I have learnt from Narendra Modi.

Vidya Bharti is committed to the resolve of establishing Ekal Shik shan Mandir all over India. The aim of this endeavour is to take bhartiya education to the remotest areas of

It is worth mentioning here that this place too had been established and inaugurated by Narendra bhai. Not just this, Vidya Bharti has one of its schools here as well and Narendra bhai attended a function here in 2002. I distinctly remember him placing his chair conveniently in the middle of bushes and a few people had been invited for the event. Today, that Ekal Mandir which was established by Narendra bhai has been converted into a Shishu Mandir.

Narendra bhai has been closely associated with my family. My fa ther used to share with me some of the finest qualities of Narendra bhai. The foremost of these virtues was his effort and desire to always stay up-to-date. During those early days, we would not have steam irons or even normal irons easily availa ble. Whenever Narendra bhai visit ed the Prashikshan Varg, he had a unique way of keeping his clothes prim and proper. When everyone would go off to sleep, Narendra bhai would then take off his kurta and iron it. But the irony is that there used to be no iron! So what would he do? He would use a globular water container to this purpose, which is commonly known as the ‘lota’. He would fill it up with hot water and straighten the creases by using the ‘lota’ in place of an iron.

Not just this, Narendra bhai’s penchant for technology is well known. He keeps himself abreast with the functioning and use of newest technologies. He used to mo tivate everyone close to him to know and use more of latest technology available in the market. If you re member, we used to have the Pager in those days. Well, at a time when no one would think of owning a pager, Narendra bhai was pro in its use. He possessed one and would harness the technology to connect with people with ease and speed. Such is Narendra bhai’s vision and mission for India as well!

he

India. So once we visited an Ekal Vidyalaya located in a densely for ested area. Our Acharya used to visit this school once or twice week ly and spent quality time with chil dren. He would play with them, teach them and narrate stories to them.

COMPILED AND EDITED BY SHASHIKANT SHARMA AND SHWETA SHARMA

‘NARENDRA MODIJI STRAIGHTENS CREASE OF CLOTHES BY USING ‘LOTA’ INSTEAD ‘IRON’’

‘IT WAS INDEED A GREAT EXPERIENCE TO MEET NARENDRA BHAI SEVERAL TIMES’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Cong needs to shun ‘divide and rule’ strategy: PM

Ahmedabad (PTI):

Prime Minister Naren dra Modi on Monday again targeted the Con gress over the partici pation of Narmada Bachao Andolan activ ist Medha Patkar in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi, and said the opposition par ty must shun its “divide and rule” strategy to win back the trust of the people of Gujarat.

Addressing a poll rally in Palitana town of Bhavnagar district in support of the BJP candidates, Modi said the people of Gujarat have rejected the Con gress because the state had suffered a lot due to the party's policy of in citing people of one re gion or community against another.

“The people of Guja rat are not ready to help

those who support ele ments wanting to break India,” he said.

PM Modi, during his previous campaign ral lies in Gujarat, had also targeted Rahul Gandhi for walking with Medha Patkar during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Elections for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly are sched uled on December 1 and 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

On Monday, Modi ac cused the Congress of trying to disrupt the reach of the Narmada water to the parched re gion of Saurashtra.

He said the Gujaratis will never forgive those who were walking with a person who was re sponsible for stalling the Sardar Sarovar dam project for 40 years.

Ahmedabad (Agen cies): Addressing an election rally in north Gujarat on Monday, Un ion Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Somnath Temple that was looted by invaders in past is daring the world now to loot it now if anyone has courage.

“Decked in gold, the Somnath temple in Gu jarat is giving a mes sage to the world that if you have the courage, then come and try to loot again,” Shah said in Mehsana district.

“Terrorists were playing Holi with blood across the country. Nar endrabhai… passed strict rules, and rooted out terrorism,” he said.

At present, my entire focus is on Bharat Jodo Yatra: RaGa

Indore: Amid his on going Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Monday that a decision to contest again from Amethi to be taken af ter one or one-and-ahalf years. "At present, my focus is Bharat Jodo Yatra," he tweet ed. Rahul Gandhi also tweeted about the Yatra saying that "Bharat Jodo Yatra raising voice of the nation.

Our Somnath dada is sitting proudly and giving a message to the world that if you have the courage then come and loot again.

Congress sacrificed 2 PMs in terror fight: Kharge

Ahmedabad (PTI): A day after Prime Minis ter Narendra Modi ac cused Congress of play ing vote bank politics over terrorism, Con gress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said his party had sacrificed two prime ministers in the fight against terror ism. Kharge questioned whether any leader of the BJP had fought for

the country’s freedom.

“We have done the work to fight against ter rorists. To maintain peace in the country, we have sacrificed our lead ers. Indira Gandhi sacri ficed her life to keep the country united. Rajiv Gandhi was martyred for the unity of the country,” Kharge said.

Gehlot also welcomed Vyas into the party. Vyas was a minister in the BJP govt in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the CM.

GUJARAT

Vadgam (PTI): Congress MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani feels a “silent wave” has gripped the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Gujarat where a change is inevitable, and the upcoming state Assembly polls will give a new direction to the country. The Congress will win 120 out of the total 182 Assembly seats in the state polls, scheduled on December 1 and 5, he claimed.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Patna (PTI): Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and the BJP are locked in a straight contest, for the first time since they broke up nearly four months ago, in the by polls to Kurhani seat.

The by-poll, scheduled for December 5, has been necessitated by the dis qualification of sitting MLA Anil Kumar Saha ni, who had won the seat in the 2020 assembly polls on RJD ticket.

The RJD, which aligned with Kumar af ter the upheaval in Au gust, has decided to back the JD(U), which it had, incidentally, defeat ed in the assembly polls two years ago to wrest the seat from the NDA.

The contest is being seen as primarily be tween JD(U)’s Manoj Singh Kushwaha and BJP’s Kedar Prasad Gup ta, both of whom have won the seat in the past.

Kozhikode: Over 3,000 persons were booked under unlawful assem bly, rioting and criminal conspiracy charges on Monday in connection with the violent attack on the Vizhinjam police station last night as part of the ongoing protest against the under-con struction Adani port. Police have registered an FIR against 3,000 identifiable persons.

Raipur (PTI): Chhat tisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel on Monday stepped up his attack on the Enforcement Direc torate (ED), accusing the probe agency of crossing its limits and treating people inhu manely in the state.

Talking to media, Baghel alleged that the agency has been tortur ing and harassing peo ple in the name of inves tigation and dubbed the

action as “unfortunate”. The CM’s remark has come a day after he tar geted the ED in a series of tweets accusing it of assaulting and intimi dating people.

The ED had recently arrested four persons, including IAS officer Sa meer Vishnoi and two coal traders, in connec tion with a money laun dering case linked to the alleged extortion from mining transporters.

PGV Hindi heartland icon? Cong is cautious

Shamsher Singh

New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Pri yanka Gandhi Vadra participated in Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh. On Thursday, she joined Rahul Gan dhi’s yatra along with her husband and chil dren and it is being told that she will also travel for four days. Now the question is, why was Priyanka made to walk with Rahul after half the journey? Why was she not sent for the

yatra when it was pass ing through South In dia? After all, Sonia Gandhi had gone to Kar nataka to attend the yatra and just as Mad hya Pradesh is impor tant for the Congress, Karnataka is also equal ly important. It was also discussed that Priyanka would also join the yatra in Mandya. But she did not go there and has joined the yatra in Madhya Pradesh.

In fact, Congress leaders feel that Priyan ka Gandhi Vadra’s iden

tity is more entrenched in the ‘Hindi heartland’. She has not worked in South India, whereas Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have been more active

there. Priyanka was saved with this thought in mind. She has joined the yatra from Madhya Pradesh, where elec tions are due next year.

After this, it is possible that she will be involved in the visit of every state for a while. The yatra through Uttar Pradesh will reportedly be of a short duration. Despite this, she can travel there too. Keep in mind that she is in charge of Uttar Pradesh. In Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab too she may join in on the yatra. But she has not gone for campaigning in Gujarat assembly elec tions and there is no programme to go either.

BJP and JD(U) fight it out in Kurhani seat by-poll

ED crossing limits, treating people inhumanely: Baghel

BATTLEGROUND GUJARAT

“If you have courage, try to loot again”, Somnath’s message to world, says Shah

Amit Shah at a rally, in Vadodara on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI

—Amit Shah, Home Minister

Kharge and Raj CM Gehlot welcome Vyas in Congress.

FORMER GUJARAT MINISTER JAY NARAYAN VYAS JOINS CONGRESS

UPCOMING

POLLS TO GIVE NEW DIRECTION TO COUNTRY: MEVANI

Ahmedabad (PTI): Former Gujarat minister Jaynarayan Vyas, who resigned from the ruling BJP earlier this month, joined the opposition Congress on Monday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge inducted 75-year-old Vyas into the party in Ahmedabad. Rajasthan CM veteran Ashok

Adani port protest: Over 3k people booked in Kerala

Mumbai: Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar Monday called out PM Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders for dragging her name during their campaign speech es for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. Senior BJP leaders, including Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have been criticising Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for marching with Patkar on his Bharat Jodo Yatra. While ad dressing the media in Mumbai, Patkar said it has become a matter of urgency that the truth must come out, and to clarify “we are being used, and to counter the false campaigning using our name.”

Indore (ANI): Congress General Secretary- Or ganisation KC Venugo pal on Sunday fell down and suffered injuries during the fifth day of Madhya Pradesh’s leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Indore district. The Con gress leader sustained injuries on his hand and knee from a stampede and was given first aid at the Yatra camp.

CONG GEN SECY KC VENUGOPAL SUFFERS INJURIES DURING BJY

MEDHA PATKAR COUNTERS PM, BJP OVER PARTICIPATION IN BJY

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with supporters during the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Indore district, Monday.

First India Bureau

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

DIAMOND TRADERS OF SURAT SHOULD GET BHARAT RATNA, SAYS KEJRIWAL Surat (PTI): Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said diamond businessmen and jewellers in Surat city in Gujarat should be conferred Bharat Ratna for their contribution to the country’s economy. The statement is viewed as Kejriwal’s attempt to breach the traditional BJP bastion, just two days before Gujarat goes to polls.

PM hails growth in milk production in last 8 years

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Vice Presi dent Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Monday that our handicrafts are our living heritage and ap pealed to all consumers of handicraft to appre ciate local and be vocal about it. Stressing the need to promote organ ised marketing and branding of Indian handicraft products, he said that interior de signers must focus on this rich mine.

Addressing a gather ing after presenting Shilp Guru and Nation al Awards (2017, 2018, 2019) at Vigyan Bhawan here, the Vice Presi dent said that the unique talent of our master craftsmen is representative of

VP Jagdeep Dhankhar presents an award during the Shilp Guru & National Awards ceremony, in New Delhi, on Monday. Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Addl Commerce Secy, Rachna Shah are also seen.

Bharat. “With your subtle workmanship, you embellish and en rich India’s cultural diversity. You repre sent India’s rich tradi tion of skills and crafts manship,” he told the Shilp Gurus present.

Dhankhar described

CRUCIAL READ

MEHBOOBA MUFTI VACATES OFFICIAL RESIDENCE IN SRINAGAR

Srinagar (Agencies): Former Chief Minister and president of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti on Monday vacated her official residence in J&K’s Srinagar and shifted to a private house in the city’s outskirts. Authorities had served a notice to Mehbooba Mufti to vacate the high security Gupkar Road residence in Sri nagar which she had been occupying since she became the Chief Minister of the state. “She has shifted to a private house in Khimber area on the outskirts of Srinagar city,” a PDP spokesman said.

RUSSIAN WITH SATELLITE PHONE HELD IN U’KHAND

Rishikesh (PTI): A Rus sian national was held at the Jollygrant airport for carrying a satellite phone without proper docu ments, police said here on Monday. Victor Semonov who lives in Moscow was arrested on Sunday, sub inspector in charge of Jol lygrant police post Uttam Ramola said. A case has been registered against the Russian national on the basis of a complaint filed by a CISF official, Ramola said. Carrying of satel lite phones without prior permission of competent authorities is illegal.

THREE MEGHALAYA MLAS SUBMIT RESIGNATION

Shillong (PTI): 2 MLAs of the ruling NPP in Meghalaya and one of the opposition TMC resigned from the Assembly on Monday, dealing a blow to the two parties. NPP leg islators — Ferlin Sangma, Benedic Marak and TMC’s HM Shangpliang submit ted their resignations to Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh during the day, Assem bly commissioner and secretary Andrew Simons said. They have also quit the membership of their respective parties. Specu lation is rife that they may next month join the BJP.

DRUNK DRIVER CRUSHES 3 SISTERS IN NOIDA’S SARDARPUR LOCALITY, 1 DEAD

Noida (Agencies): A drunk driver rammed his vehicle and crushed three sisters on a roadside in Noida’s Sadarpur area, leading to the death of one. The incident took place on Sunday evening in Som Bazar. According to the police, Pushpa, a resident of Khajur Colony, had gone to Som Bazar along with her daughters, Riya (6), Anu (15), and Ankita (18). The police added that the three girls were eating golgappas when the accident occurred. The youngest victim succumbed to her injuries on Monday morning. The three were admitted in the Post Graduate Insti tute of Child Health, Noida. The police said that four youths were drinking in the Swift Dzire vehicle and the intoxicated driver lost control of the car which led to the accident.

Indian craftsmen as the impactful ambassadors of our culture and crea tivity and said that by honouring them, the nation is honouring those generations of unknown skilled crafts men, who have left be hind such a rich legacy.

Observing that it takes generations of training to master these skills, the Vice Presi dent said that on ac count of their creativi ty, skills and the hard work, India’s handi craft is the most sought after in the world.

Meghalaya to get border posts in sensitive areas

Shillong (PTI): Fol lowing last week vio lence at Mukroh which led to the killing of six persons, Meghalaya government on Monday decided to set up border outposts in sensitive ar eas along the inter-state border, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Monday.

The Chief Minister announced the deci sion after chairing an all-party meeting at tended by local MLAs from Jaintia Hills where they were briefed on actions that have been taken and the future course of ac tion by the state gov

ernment following the firing incident at Muk roh in which 5 local vil lagers and a forest guard from Assam lost their lives.

“Informed the politi cal leaders that the Cabinet will sit tomor row to finalise the list of the various Border Outposts (BOPs) that will be set up in sensi tive areas,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.

’18 & ’19

New Delhi: As many as 30 Shilp Guru Awards and 78 National Awards for the year 2017, 2018 and 2019 were presented to master craftspersons, here on Monday. 36 of whom are women. The main objective of the awards is to give recogni tion for their excellence in craftsmanship and valuable contribution to Indian Handicrafts and textiles sector. The Shilp Guru Awards are given to the legendary master craftspersons.

New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Nar endra Modi on Mon day expressed happi ness over the growth in milk production in the last eight years, and said a vi brant dairy sector is also a great way to further strengthen our “Nari Shakti (women power)”. His remarks came in response to a tweet by Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dair ying Parshottam Ru pala, who said there had been a “monu mental growth” in milk production in the last eight years.

“It increased 83 MT in just 8yrs un der visionary lead ership of PM Shri Narendra Modi ji. Earlier in 63 yrs it increased only 121 MT,” he said.

Prime

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Monday paid tributes to Guru Tegh Ba hadur on his martyrdom day, saying he refused to bow to tyranny and injus tice. “I pay homage to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji on the day of his martyrdom. He is universally admired for his courage and unwavering commitment to his principles as well as ideals,” PM Modi said in a tweet.

Now, all eight cheetahs in KNP’s acclimatisation enclosure: Official

Sheopur (PTI): All the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) in September have been shifted from the quarantine zone to the larger acclimatisa tion enclosure, with three female cheetahs being released on Mon day, a Forest official said.

The eight cheetahs were translocated from the African country on September 17 as part of an ambitious reintro duction project of the species. They were re leased into the quaran

One of the cheetahs brought from Namibia. —FILE PHOTO

tine zone by Prime Min ister Narendra Modi.

“Female cheetahs Sa vana, Shasha, and Si yaya were released into the big boma (enclo sure) number 5 using walk-through cages be tween 9 am and 11 am

PARLIAMENTARY INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

on Monday,” confirmed Kuno Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Prakash Kumar Verma.

On Sunday, female cheetahs Asha and Tbi lisi joined males Obaan, Alton, and Freddie in the larger enclosure.

PM IN GOA ON DEC 11 FOR WAC

Panaji (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the conclud ing function of World Ayurveda Congress and inaugura tion of the All India Institute of Ayurveda in Goa on December 11, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Monday. Talking to reporters, Sawant said the prime minister will attend the inauguration of the All India In stitute of Ayur veda at Dhargal in Pernem taluka of North Goa.

All people living in India are Hindus: Mohan Bhagwat

Darbhanga (PTI): RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday asserted that all people living in India were by definition Hindus and diversity had flour ished in the country be cause of the cultural ethos of the land.

Anybody who agrees to sing Sanskrit verses in praise of Bharat Mata and is committed to preservation of the culture of the land is a Hindu, he said.

Bhagwat who was addressing RSS work ers here before con cluding his four-day tour of Bihar, said the mammoth organisa tion will become re dundant if all citizens of the country adopt the spirit of selfless service exhibited by the ‘Swayamsevaks’ .

“People should un derstand that because they live in Hindu sthan, they all are Hin dus. They might by other things as well, but all other identities have been made possi ble because of Hindu ethos of acceptance

Hindutva is the name for the centuries old culture to which all the diverse streams owe their origin,” the RSS chief said.

Resilient Cameroon hold Serbia to 3-3 draw

Al-Wakrah [Qatar]

(ANI): Aleksandar Mitrovic took his team o a 3-1 lead for Serbia early into the second half before Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar and Eric Maxim ChoupoMoting struck stunning goals to play out a draw 3-3 in their Group G match of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 here at the Al Janoub Stadium on Monday.

With the win, Came roon kept alive their faint hopes of reaching the round of 16. Al

though neither team will likely benefit from the outcome, Serbia will undoubtedly be perplexed as to how they let a two-goal ad vantage to vanish at the Al Janoub Stadium af ter Aleksandar Mitro vic had given them a decisive advantage. Both the teams tried to find the winner but the game ended in a 3-3 stalemate. Serbia struck right in the firsthalf injury time to dra matically take a 2-1 lead against Cameroon.

Early in the second half, Mitrovic increased

move, but just after Aboubakar’s stunning dinked goal had cut the score in half, Eric Max im Choupo-Moting fin ished the comeback from close range.

Cameroon scored their second goal of the game after a lot of dra ma on the field. Vincent Aboubakar scored the goal but the linesman raised the offside flag. The referee took it up for a rewiew and the goal was eventually al lowed. Cameroon trail Serbia 2-3.

After

watching Fauda, I

realised it’s time to forge ties with Israel: Thakur

Panaji (ANI): The nine-day 53rd Interna tional Film Festival of India (IFFI) came to an end on Monday in Goa, with the closing cere mony held at Dr Shy ama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium near Panaji. The closing ceremony of the film festival saw Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur’s speech highlighting eve ry prospect of his vi sion. Not just this! He also addressed his view point on Israel and In

dia’s relationship in the presence of the makers of the mega-hit Netflix series ‘Fauda’. Thakur stated, “The Netflix se ries FAUDA has been a hit in India and received

a thunderous reception during the IFFI premier of their 4th season. Is rael and India can be leading partners to pro pel the creative econo my sector.”

Serbia’s advantage fol lowing an amazing team

FIFA WORLD CUP

Cameroon’s captain Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting vies for the ball during the match against Serbia in FIFA World Cup 2022.

SHILP

AWARDS

OVER 100 GET AWARDS FOR 2017,

Minister Narendra Modi PM MODI PAYS HOMAGE TO GURU TEGH

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with participants from 17 countries at the 36th Parliamentary Internship Programme at Parliament House, in New Delhi on Monday.

BRIEFS

‘Slower growth will be good for India

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The govern ment has received about `5,001 crore as dividend tranche from ONGC, tak ing the total dividend receipt from all CPSEs (Central Public Sector En terprises) so far this fiscal to `23,797 cr. “The gov ernment has received about `5,001 crore from ONGC as dividend tranche,” DIPAM Secretary tweeted. As per gudielines, CPSEs are required to pay a mini mum annual dividend of 30% of profit after tax or 5% of net worth, which ever is higher.

New Delhi: India’s annual economic growth is fore cast to slow to about 6% for a few years, according to economists including from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Plc.. And they say that’s not such a bad thing. Gross domestic product expansion at about 6% is a sweet spot for Asia’s third-largest econo my to steer inflation back to the Reserve Bank of In dia’s target, and also to narrow budget and current account deficits, said Ra hul Bajoria of Barclays. Price gains have stayed

above RBI’s 2%-6% target since the start of 2022, and the central bank seeks to cool it to 4% by 2024.

For Santanu Sengupta of Goldman Sachs, a growth slowdown will be good for India, expecting GDP ex pansion to ease to 6% next fiscal year from about 7.1% in the year ending March.

“That would make the twin deficits problems more manageable,” he said, re ferring to budget and cur rent account gaps.

A slower growth in India would also be consistent with a much deeper global slowdown, said Saugata Bh attacharya, chief econo

S&P cuts India’s growth forecast by 30 bps to 7% for FY23

New Delhi: The govern ment has allowed the En forcement Directorate to share information about economic offenders with 15 more agencies, includ ing SFIO, CCI and NIA, a move that will expedite nailing of law-breakers. The finance ministry noti fied changes to the Pre vention of Money Laun dering Act (PMLA), 2002, on November 22. Through the notification, the ED would be able to share data with a total of 25 agencies, including the 10 specified earlier.

PV MAKERS TO INVEST `65,000 CRORE BY FY25

New Delhi: Passenger ve hicle makers are expected to invest around `65K cr by FY25 to ramp up pro duction capacities to cater to enhanced demand, rat ing agency Icra said on Monday. It stated that the demand for passenger vehicles has remained healthy since the turn of the calendar year, aided by strong underlying de mand and an easing up of semiconductor shortages. The passenger vehicle in dustry wholesale volumes are expected to touch an all-time high of 3.7-3.8 million units in FY23, a growth of 21-24% over the previous fiscal, driven by robust demand. —PTI

New Delhi (PTI): S&P Global Ratings on Monday cut India’s economic growth forecast for cur rent fiscal year to 7%, but said the domestic demandled economy will be less impacted by the global slowdown.

S&P had in September projected the Indian econo my to grow 7.3% in 2022-23 and 6.5% in next fiscal year (2023-24).

“The global slowdown will have less impact on do mestic demand-led econo mies such as India... India’s output will expand 7% in fiscal year 2022-2023 and 6% in next fiscal year,” S&P Global Ratings Asia-Pacif ic chief economist Louis Kuijs said.

The Indian economy grew 8.5% in 2021. In its quarterly economic update for Asia-Pacific, S&P said in some countries the do mestic demand recovery from COVID has further to go and this should support growth next year in India.

It projected inflation to

BANKS TO SEE STRONG LOAN GROWTH DESPITE HIGHER RATES

New Delhi (PTI): Fitch Ratings on Monday said India’s bank credit will see strong growth in current financial year despite effects of higher interest rates. It said the strong loan growth should benefit net revenue, particularly as it will be coupled with wider net interest margins.

“We see bank credit expanding by around 13% in FY23, up from 11.5% in FY22. The acceleration will be driven by the normalisa tion of economic activity after the COVID-19 pandemic, and high nominal GDP growth, which we expect to boost demand for retail and working-capital loans,” Fitch said. Fitch forecasts India’s real GDP growth at 7% in 202223. It said Indian banks gener ally remain open to additional capital-raising to fund growth, despite the rise in rates.

average 6.8% in current fis cal year and RBI’s bench mark interest rate to rise to 6.25% by March 2023. To control price rise, RBI has already hiked interest rate by 1.9 percentage points to a 3-year high of 5.9%.

KEEPING THE FUTURE IN MIND

mist of Axis Bank Ltd. “The reduced demand will help control the current account deficit and enable a steeper glide path of inflation.”

Bank credit grows to 17.2 per cent in September quarter

Mumbai (PTI): Bank cred it growth improved to 17.2% in the Sept quarter 2022 from 7% in the yearago period, reflecting pickup in economic activities.

Bank credit growth im proved further to 17.2% (year-on-year) in Septem ber 2022 from 14.2% a quar ter ago and 7% a year ago, it said.

Aggregate deposits growth (y-o-y), which re mained in the close range of 9.5-10.2% since June 2021, stood at 9.8% in Sep tember 2022. Since Decem ber 2020, bank branches in metropolitan centres have been recording higher an nual growth than those in rural, semi-urban and urban areas.

Economists in a Bloomb erg survey forecast India to expand at 7% this fiscal year ending March, before slowing to 6.1% the year

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

z India’s annual economic growth is forecast to slow to about 6% for a few years, according to economists including from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Plc.. And they say that’s not such a bad thing

z Gross domestic product expansion at about 6% is a sweet spot for India

after. Inflation is also fore cast to ease to 5.1% in the FY to March 2024 from 6.7% in the current fiscal year.

“The key issue is that In

dia’s widening growth dif ferentials relative to rest of the world is double edged, as it brings risks of a larg er external deficit with it,” said Barclays’s Bajoria. The Indian economy is in a better shape than most oth er large economies, but its momentum will be affected by the global slowdown, said Niranjan Rajadhyak sha, CEO of Artha India, an economic research firm.

“Given the current levels of inflation, trade deficit and fiscal deficit, it would be better to consolidate for now rather than push for extra growth by stimulat ing domestic demand.”

Centre confident of meeting fiscal deficit target for FY23: Report

First India Bureau

New Delhi: On the back of healthy revenues, the Cen tre expects to meet or even do better than the fiscal deficit target of the cur rent FY23. According to report, a higher nominal GDP growth and underutilisation of funds by sev eral ministries will pro vide the government with the required cushion. The fiscal deficit target for FY 23 has been pegged at 6.4%.

The report added that the Centre expects the gross tax revenue to be “at least” ` 3-3.5 trillion above the FY23 target of `27.6 tril lion. “We are confident that we will meet the fiscal defi

MARKETS HIT FRESH ALL-TIME HIGH; RALLY FOR FIFTH DAY

Mumbai (PTI): Bench mark indices ended at fresh lifetime highs on Monday amid foreign fund inflows, a decline in crude oil prices and buying in index major Reliance Industries.

Rallying for the fifth day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 211.16 points or 0.34% to settle at 62,504.80, its fresh record closing high. During the day, it jumped 407.76 points or 0.65% to its lifetime in tra-day peak of 62,701.40.

The broader NSE Nifty gained 50 points or 0.27% to end at 18,562.75, its record closing high.

Among the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries jumped the most by 3.48%.

RUPEE RISES 5 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.66 AGAINST US DOLLAR

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee climbed 5 paise to close at 81.66 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday as lower crude prices in and a firm trend in domestic equities boosted inves tor sentiment. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened weak at 81.81 and touched an intra-day high of 81.61 and a low of 81.83 against the greenback. It finally settled at 81.66, registering a rise of 5 paise over its previous close.

Airtel to upskill 20K staff as 5G era begins

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Gold price slipped by `61 to `52,822 per 10 gram in the na tional capital on Monday amid a fall in prices of the precious metal overseas, according to HDFC Secu rities. In the previous trade, the yellow metal had touched `52,883 per 10 gram. Silver also de clined by `146 to `61,855 per kg. In the internation al market, gold was trad ing lower at $1,750.46 per ounce while silver was down at $21.25 per ounce.

New Delhi: India’s pre mier communications so lutions provider, Bharti Airtel is investing in up skilling its workforce for the 5G rollout.

The programmes be neath the 5G Academy and the IP (web protocol) Acad emy initiatives. The pro grams are provided based mostly on ability and eligi bility degree freed from price. Amrita Padda, chief individuals officer, Bharti Airtel said, “Nearly 20,000 professionals within the Airtel ecosystem have

been educated within the fundamentals of IP knowhow in preparation for the 5G rollout.”

“This is our way of in vesting in the workforce for the future,” Amrita added.

The academies supply fundamental and superior degree ability programmes throughout features.

Airtel has checked out the gaps in the workforce. The company is looking

EDUCATION FOR ROLLOUT

z Acc to chief individuals officer of Bharti Airtel, Amrita Padda, nearly 20,000 professionals within the Airtel ecosystem have been educated within the fundamentals of IP know-how in preparation for the 5G rollout

forward to upskilling the current workers. Earlier, Airtel announced that it has signed 5G network agreements with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to commence 5G deployment.

cit target...It could even be better in percentage terms,” an official said.

Both direct and indirect tax collections have been robust in FY23. The GST collection was over ` 1.51 trillion in October.

The direct tax collection in FY23, till November 10,

OTHER

GOOD COLLECTIONS

z Both direct and indirect tax collections have been robust in FY23. The GST collection was over `1.51 tn in Oct. It was the second-highest GST collection ever. The direct tax collection in FY23, till Nov10, was `10.54 trillion

was ` 10.54 trillion, 30.69% higher than the same peri od in FY22.

The central excise collec tions, however, have been muted due to the tax cuts amid high inflation. The `65,000 crore disinvestment target for FY23 is also un likely to be met.

New Delhi: Flights will soon be started from two North eastern states to Myanmar and Bangla desh as the government is working on enhancing air connectivity in the region. On Monday, the first flight from the new airport at Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar was flagged off. The flight from Hollongi airport to Mumbai via Kolkata is being operated by IndiGo, which will also be increasing its services from the region.

BRANDED

8-10%

Mumbai: With growing consumer preference for branded products, the revenue of organised electrical and kitchen appli ances industry is expected to grow 8-10% in this financial year. This 8-10% revenue growth expected during this fiscal will also be supported by increasing usage of smart technologies and similar buying behaviour among rural and urban consumers towards such products, according to a report by Crisil Ratings.

GOVT ALLOWS ED TO SHARE INFO WITH 15 MORE AGENCIES

GOLD PRICES FALL BY `61; SILVER ALSO GOES DOWN BY `146

2ND FRONT

The punchline of our program this time is ‘Modi all the way’. What exactly is meant by that?

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra: The meaning is crystal clear, clean sweep in Gujarat led by PM Nar endra Modi. The basic reason for it is that Congress gets about 40% votes every time, be it 2017 or even prior to that. But this time, that vote bank will get divided into three parties. Congress will get its share, but then voters will be di vided between AAP and Owaisi (AIMIM). Thus the result is clear, it will be Modi’s clean sweep. Therefore, he recently said, also to honour his CM, that last time the record that he (PM Modi) cre ated, will be destroyed by CM Bhupendra Patel. Amit Shah said they will break all records. Look at the confidence of state BJP chief CR Patil, he said he has told 82 lakh BJP workers that it will be their responsibility to take fifteen voters to booth. This means a whopping 3.5 crore voters will vote for BJP. Even if we take a modest turnout, the voters would still be around 2.5 crores. Drawing from this, he has said that of less than 130 seats fall in BJP’s kitty, he will leave politics. He then, out of satire, said that if BJP gets less than 99 seats, he will commit sui cide. The reason why I mention this to look at BJP’s confidence. Moreover, another reason for con fidence is that this time around there is no patidar agitation, and majority of Patidar votes are go ing to go with BJP. Thus our punchline is self explanatory — Modi all the way. If we want, we can end the entire Gujarat elec tion analysis through this punch line — Modi all the way.

z So this means that BJP is forming govt in Gujarat? Of course. BJP is definitely going to form govt but what remains to be seen is that in 2002, Narendra Modi had formed govt with 127 seats, prior to that once Congress had formed govt long back with 149 seats, but Modi’s own record is of 127 and in a manner, Modi is now going to break his own re cord and although he gives the credit of this to CM, that is a sepa rate issue. Hence it is clear that BJP will form govt and it will be a clean sweep with a huge majority hence if the party crosses 127, it would not be surprising.

z Most of the news channels have claimed numbers between 118 to 135. It may be a clean sweep, but what does your own analysis say how many seats will BJP win?

As far as estimating the number of seats is concerned, all news channels and pandits have given various numbers. We do not tow that line, rather we go by the say ing of a numerologist Kumar Ganesh from Jaipur, whose esti mation is most of the times cor rect. His success rate is 87%. For the three elections in Gujarat, what ever he said came to be. He estimates that BJP will get 97-107 seats and Congress will get 66-76 seats. And he has given 9 seats to AAP and all other parties. But barring this one estimation, all other estimates by trade pandits, political analysts and even news channels, claim that BJP will cross the 127 seat mark. Only time will tell whose estimation was right and the probability of estimates of other channels etc seems to be more than the esti mate by the numerologist.

z Who do you think will be next BJP Chief Minister in Gujarat?

Although Amit Shah has an nounced publicly on record that CM (Bhupendra Patel) will re main CM. But it can not be said for certain when Narendra Modi and Amit Shah may change the

decision keeping in view the pub lic’s opinion and feedback from grassroot. But if due to some un foreseen reasons, Bhupendra Pa tel does not become the Chief Minister, then CR Patil seems the number one contender, who will virtually be PM’s nominee in Gu jarat. So it could be that he may become CM. But do you remem ber how the Chief Minister was selected last time around? So Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have their own style of function ing. When the observers came here, the envelope containing name of CM was opened five min utes before the announcement was made and the name was of Bhupendra Patel. The observers tried to find him in the crowd of MLAs and he was found sitting in one corner of the stage. He was requested to come in the front row but he declined saying he was alright seat ed behind. But on second request, he came in the front. And within three minutes of opening of the envelope, he be came CM. So the party which has a style of giving surprises and catching its leaders unaware, so for such a leadership, it can not be said for certain if Bhupendra Pa tel’s horoscope and Amit Shah’s announcement will match. But definitely the CM will be a nomi nee of the high command.

z If we talk about the past thirty years, it is for the first time that there is a three way contest, and the third front has never been successful. But what will the effect of this three way contest on BJP?

There will be no effect on BJP. The party, rather, is a beneficiary. Like I said, the three way contest is for the 40% vote share, which earlier used to go to Cong. So the votes would be divided, some may get 20, some may get 15. So BJP is not a loser here, it is only going to gain from it.

z How effective would Con gress be in this contest?

See, in this election, Congress has to loose. If the 40% share that traditionally went with Congress gets divided, it is going to loose.

Now the possibility is, according to numerologist Kumar Ganesh, that Congress can get 66-76 seats, but this is an exception as far as estimates are concerned. If that

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Bharat24-Vision of New India and First India; CMD First India News gives an in-depth and detailed explanation on ‘MODI ALL THE WAY’, how Modi is synonymous with victory for BJP, how BJP is going to clean sweep the Gujarat assembly election and why is Modi working tirelessly in assembly election like any other CM. Dr Chandra also threw light on the impact other parties would have on the electoral space and how Congress will come out a loser as AAP and AIMIM will dent its vote bank as BJP’s vote bank will remain secured. Excerpts… (Part-I)

estimate is looked upon, then may be Congress would get some traction, otherwise Congress is a looser in this election, along with all other parties. The only gainer is BJP and Narendra Modi.

z What will be the effect of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra on Gujarat elections?

The Yatra does not have any ma jor effect on Gujarat elections but yes some morale building defi nitely happens of the workers. Rahul, who used to appear aloof and silent, whom people had started referring to as a child, but now he has started to appear ma ture and sincere. The extended moral influence of that will be carries in Gujarat and he has car ried out two rallies in Surat and Rajkot. Those were good rallies and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot was with him. But those were ceremonial rallies as there was normal presence of crowd, it did not have extraordinary number of people. Moreover, indications are that he will not come to Guja rat in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. So the moral influence that he may have gained through the Yatra will be negated by AAP and Owaisi’s party (AIMIM).

z Is it true that Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has creat ed some worry in the BJP top brass?

No there is no worry, but a slight concern. And that too is because of the reason that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are always in the know-how of ground reali ties. Their feedback system is exemplary and they do not de pend on government agencies like IB etc. They have their own means. So they have felt that Con gress has gained a little morale and the Congress’ graph in south India has increased, so they are concerned. Because they do not want to loose any election and they contest each election with a sense of personal reputation be ing at stake. So even if a little morale is built, they will take one or the other steps. So they are not worried, but are concerned.

z But if BJP is going to clean sweep in Gujarat, then why this concern?

This concern is basically of 2024, and secondly they want to win each election. Gujarat is just one part of that and next year they

have to win three more elections i.e. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh in 2023 and then there will be 2024 general elec tions. So this concern of theirs is regarding 2024, that perhaps some clime is created in opposi tion party’s favour that may per haps dent their chances. They rule under the ‘ek chhatra’ man date and that is why they said Congress-mukt Bharat and are almost in that place now. So they keep strategizing on how to ad dress that concern of theirs.

z What effect will the three way contest have on the Aam Aadmi Party?

The tragedy of AAP is that they taxi in a great way but crash on the runway. Although they amass votes, but fail to get a result. In whatever constituencies they go, they get good fifteen or sixteen thousand votes, but they fail to convert that into victory. As far as news channels are concerned, majority of them have claimed 15-20 seats, but our numerologist has stressed that all others would get a total of nine seats, except BJP and Congress. So these other parties can look into their own share in those nine seats. So I per sonally do not feel that AAP would make a major impact in Gujarat and they may take 5-6 seats, but i genuinely do not think AAP would go beyond that number.

z Will AAP make a break through in this election?

Breakthrough would have hap pened if they would have repeat ed the victories of Punjab and Delhi. Such a breakthrough, or sweep, I don’t see it presently. I have been associated with Guja rat for 12 years, and I don’t think AAP is going to change the stakes here. Just that AAP will open its account here, that’s all.

z Why is the entire electoral campaign of BJP focussed on Narendra Modi?

He is the only hero. He is all in one. Narendra Modi alone has the best crowd pulling capacity in BJP. He is numero uno in that sense too. Amit Shah, Modi’s most trusted ally and his lieuten ant, comes at number two. As far as crowd puller is concerned, across the nation, it is Narendra Modi. Hence BJP has put all its stake on him. And he is the per son who, if you notice, has taken BJP from state to state. Just look for yourself how many states did BJP had its government and look at how many states it has govern ments now.

z Political circles are abuzz with the word that this time around Narendra Modi is campaigning as if he himself is CM and that he is contesting assembly election for himself. What do you think of this? That is absolutely correct. he is definitely campaigning this elec tion as if he has to contest Guja rat assembly election. This is his commitment towards Gujarat. He understands the relevance of Gujarat that even if he wins across the nation, but looses in Gujarat, it will be extremely em barrassing for the leadership. So he has a moral commitment. He has a commitment towards the party also and he does not want to loose any election and this is his strategy. This time he has made himself the face of elec tion, and although Modi is the electoral face across the nation, but, here in Gujarat, he is the real face and it seems that he is con testing the election single-hand edly. So I agree with your assess ment that in spite of being PM, Modi, carrying forward his com mitment to the party, is cam paigning like CM and campaign ing from one city to another.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra in interaction with (L to R) Aditi Sharma, Manish Desai, Kshama Tripathi, Amit Mishra, Shweta Raje, Aditi Nagar, Poornima Mushra, Astha Khandelwal and Pooja Yadav during The JC Show.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra in front of The Statue of Unity during The JC Show.

—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO

KHADI: A CLOTH AND BEYOND...

Supermodels dazzled on the ramp exhibiting ravishing Fall/Winter collection by Fashion Designer Farha Ansari, mesmerizing the audience as they showcased the intricate designs at the First India Fashion Connect Season 13 held at Novotel London Hammersmith on November 20!

fter the succes ful season 12 of First India pre sents Fashion Connect and designers em bracing oldschool glamour in India, seems like the fashion police made the next stop in London in order to bombard our social media with the latest tea on what’s popping in the domain of style. Yes, you guessed it right, you’re about to have in side access to some of the ‘can’t miss’ mo ments at the First India Fashion Connect Sea son 13, in association with India Fashion Week London, held at Novotel London Ham mersmith, London on November 20.

Khadi, a versatile fab

ric which on washing is more enhanced, show casing the weaving art of Rajasthan in imbib ing the innovative Kha di fabric including Houndstooth and Plaid Patterns, amalgamating the Indian Khadi with Victorian Era, re nowned Fashion De signer Farha Ansari presented the Fall/Win ter collection at India Fashion Week.

S.E.W.A, Society for Empowerment of Wom en Artisans where the talented weavers of Jaisalmer, Barmer and Chomu have created the fabric which is in sync with the environmental friendly requirements of being eco-friendly and sustainable. Khadi which once became a symbol of freedom struggle is helping many artisans which believe in creating natu ral and body friendly fabrics by using natural dyes and hand woven techniques, this also places it in a fabric which leaves minimal carbon footprint. In an era where Make in In

dia, Eco-friendly, sustainable, tradi tional art, saving the art of Handicrafts are the demand of the times, Khadi is one answer to all.

S.E.W.A helps and em power women artisans to generate much need ed household income to rural Indian communi ties. Taking inspiration from Modern Women who are equally respon sible citizens, Farah Ansari showcased and designed the garments which are modern yet traditional forms of fabric, from here comes the collection BUNAI which was highly appreciated and got accolades.

Students from Poddar Interna tional College Pri ya Rana, Charul Verma, Rajul Jain, also con tributed in the conceptualiza tion and imple mentation of the designs showcased at IFW, London.

www.firstindia.co.in

MITALI DUSAD mitalidusad01@gmail.com

Farha Ansari walks the ramp with ravishing models

Samant Chauhan and Manny Singh felicitating Farha Ansari with others

REFLECTIONS – BATTLING OBESITY & BODY IMAGE

s Anuja lines her immer sive eyes with kajal, touches up her full lips with burgundy, and slips on her archframing sandals, a vi sion of feline sensu ousness, I, her obese, overweight, hysteri cally weeping hus band, a full-grown ‘man’ of forty-two, sprawled in an unrav elled heap of my own mess, bark from the bed, “I have NOTH ING, not ONE SINGLE thing, that fits me! Eve ryone will laugh at my face!”

This beauty and the beast routine, a tad dif ferent from the fairy tale, was my reality, and by consequence, my wife’s and mine, unfairly shared, night marish truth, each time we were to step out in public, a dinner,

FACEOFTHEDAY

a function, a show, an outing. Frantically I’d bring down cartons; I exaggerate not, car tons of clothes from

the loft – each one con taining a phase-of-life – one 46s, another 44s, still one more, the slim-days, 42s! Ever since I can re member, I struggled with my weight. As a very young child, I was ‘fat’. Why? Because my overtly-loving Bengali nanny, Shanti didi, ex pressed her unflinch ing love and devotion toward me, the ONLY way she knew – by cooking the criminally fattening Mete Curry (that’s Liver in Benga li) and following that up with the copious quantities of the most vulgar dessert –Malai and Chini. Clearly, chinikum was a con cept alien to her.

That she lavished me with such un bridled cu linary sav agery wasn’t what worried me, naturally, it didn’t, for I had no concept of its ongoing, real-time manifes tation. What didn’t

YOUR DAY

worry me either, was that I was, ‘healthy’ (read countless Indi ans’ euphemisms for overweight). The an noyance was, that there were people in my immediate uni verse, who made fun of me!

That is where, pre cisely when, it began.

My life-long conflict, complex relationship, inextricably toxic dy namic, with my own body and as a the by product, of my own, fast-depleting selfworth. The emphasis that is paid in the world to a person’s body type, is simply, entirely not commen surate with how healthy that person is, with how ‘fit’ that in dividual is. Nor does it relate in any manner, to ‘beauty’, which also, not unlike fitness, is pro nounced good or bad on the most bi zarre pa rameters. It is absolutely skewed. Why? How? We could in

vestigate, even debate those reasons, till the owls sleep off. Perhaps, in my experience at least, it has been a combination of the JUDGER’S own frus trations & com plexes, and what soci ety has dictated over decades and genera tions. You’re too thin, you must be ill. You’re too fat, there must be something wrong with you. Too short, too tall, every thing is a problem!

When I think back to my own child hood, I

realize that I was very happy while I was away at boarding school. I used to until recently, feel that those were my glory years, when I accomplished a great deal. Upon deep er introspection though, the ugly truth reveals itself like the Big Bad Wolf lying in bed, dressed as Little Red Riding Hood’s Grandma – it was Body-Image all that while. How? Simple. Throughout board ing school, perhaps because it was a number of very active years, in addition to being away from Shan ti didi and

lifestyle ceased, and back came to the weight, in oodles.

It coincided so per fectly with the start of college that all the con fidence and self-worth that I’d have liked to have had at the cusp of a new life at Delhi Uni versity, slipped from right under my feet, like a shag-rug away to the cleaners! I was, once again, the ‘fat’ Kartik from my preteens. The ‘butt’ of many jokes, taunts, hushed mockery. That I’d nev er had a girl friend, that I

wouldn’t be able to go for a little run; all manner of assertions were made purely based on my ‘physicali ty’. And it drove me entirely over the edge.

Years later, in Anuja, I might have met a partner who genuinely couldn’t care two hoots about how ‘large’ I am (safe for the ‘health’ as pect of being over weight); evidenced by her dating, marrying, and staying with me. The sad irony is, even she, ‘thin’ and pretty as she is, has not been able to escape the ire and discriminant gaze of JUDGERS who has, through her life, la belled her, too thin!

her inglorious, glut tonous meals; I was ‘thin’. And hence, respected, consid ered cool even. The moment school drew to an end, the frantic sports and the generally physi cally demanding

In a previous personal blog, I graphically de scribed the genesis of my awful smoking ad diction. To now realize that it was in fact THIS specific insecurity that played a huge role in adopting the former habit; is eye-opening even as I write this!

The pursuit of being cool, fitting in, belong ing, and being accept ed, depended, and con tinues for millions, on how others, and most importantly we our selves, perceive our bodies, and the conclu sions we come to, basis that.

Today, bringing up our wonderful fiveand-a-half-year-old daughter Krisha, I see the same judgment and pressure. It is woefully palpable. To equate a girl’s beauty to prin cesses from fairy tales and boys’ ‘handsome ness’ to being strong like He the Man (read chiselled, ripped, built); to me is the most reprehensible, damag ing, and permanently scarring conditioning. We are what we are. We have grown up, and into our early 40s, and will continue to battle our body-image-de mons, best we can. On days we will overcome, on others, our insecu rities might prevail.

As a new, young gen eration of to-be-par ents however, there is an unmissable oppor tunity to understand this and take correc tive action. To bring up a generation of chil dren free of body bias. To be, healthy, fit, and happy. To define beau ty, on their own, through their own mind’s eye, and not ONLY based on ‘reflec tions’!

ARIES

MAR 21 - APR 20

Health tips from an expert will enable you to get closer to your fitness goals. Using your initiative at work will be much appreciated. You may get a chance to pursue old hobby. Your generous behavior would enable to enjoy some lovely moments with family.

LEO

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

Family will be most supportive, when it really matters for you. Some of you may add to your list of properties by booking a new one. It is good day to confess your love as stars appear favourable for positive reply. A long drive is likely to help you get over mental tiredness.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV 23 - DEC 22

It’s a very good day to take calculated risks in financial matters. Your efforts on the professional front will be recognised. Opting for some healthy choices will ensure you remain in perfect health. You will feel contented on the family front. Today you will enjoy the trust of senior management.

TAURUS

APR 21 - MAY 20

Despite hectic schedule you will manage to find time for family. Seek the opinion of your family before finalizing a property deal. Your bold initiatives on romantic front bring back passion and spark in

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

Following a health diet will be a good idea. Luck favours you today on the professional front. Focussing on health now will help you in keeping physically fit. Clarity of mind will help you forge ahead on the academic front.Frustration on the romantic front is possible.

LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

Distant relatives may drop in for a surprise visit. On professional front, recognition for good work would motivate you to work harder. Those awaiting an affirmation on romantic front are likely to get lucky today, as partner responds positively.

AQUARIUS

JAN 21 - FEB 19

A friend may motivate you to take up a healthy activity.

Parents may appear more than happy with what you deliver. Plans for overseas travel are likely to materialise. You are likely to get clearance or approval for your construction plans. You find things moving in the way you want them.

CANCER

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

SCORPIO

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

Happiness in the domestic sphere will only come with a changed mind set. Some of you are likely to become a part of an overseas official trip. Bet ter to consult an expert in financial matters before making an invest ment. Harsh words may create a rift in your romantic relationship.

PISCES

FEB20 - MARCH 20

Gifting something to your beloved is likely to make the day memorable. Matrimonial match for siblings will bring happiness for entire family. You will get a good price for your property. Those awaiting results are assured of succeeding with flying colours.

SAINA SHARMA, Model

Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

e took a peek into Manushi Chhillar's recent airport look and it is well show cased that t-shirts are still a cool thing. How true it is that no closet is ever complete

without one and today too it proved to have the 25-yearold's back. She brought that summer chic back and it looks great. We're all calling it a day with party outfits and letting go of the ones that do not say rock and roll in blingy

lia Bhatt shares a great bond with her sister Shaheen Bhatt, and the actress never hesitates to ex press her love for Shaheen. Alia and Shaheen often feature on each other’s Insta gram posts, and their love-filled captions speak volumes about their sibling bond and the love and

Shaheen Bhatt is cele brating her 34th birth day, and Alia Bhatt made it special by dedicating a lovely post to her. She shared two pictures from her wedding with Ranbir Kapoor, which show Alia posing with Shaheen, and she also penned a heartfelt note for her sister.

Sharing the two

photographs, Alia ex pressed her love for Shaheen in the cap tion. She wrote, “hap py birthday to the BEST person ever .. my sweetie .. my little melon smiggle pop I love you so much that no amount of cute and sweet-sounding words will ever be enough Okay bye calling you in one hour.” —Agency

hence she has been roped into the movie. Shraddha's role in the film is completely opposite of what she has portrayed in most of her movies." For those who don't know about Rukhsana Kausar KC, she is a young Kash miri girl, who became a celeb overnight after she shot dead a LeT terrorist and injured another at her residence in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A group of terrorists barged into Rukhsana's house on the night of September 27, 2009. She along

Let the best-dressed game be gin! While we're still recov ering from Katrina Kaif's cutesy fringe hairstyle, there's something new already to talk about.

Her desi look is giving high glamour with the chiffon saree which features well-crafted se quin and beadwork both on the broad border and the rest of the attire. The play of pink here stands out and complements won

derfully. Celebrity fashion styl ist Ami Patel shows how to wind up your look with a sleeveless blouse de signed from velvet fab ric. The cropped and plunging neckline num ber consisted of embel lishments put out in a detailed, chevron pattern which is the designer's sig nature. —Agency

Mconcept

If you are tired of classic blue denim, take denim style up a notch with a green denim look right out of Deepika’s style files in 2022. Deepika’s outfit consisted of Le vi's x Deepika Padu kone baggy jacket, paired with matching stone-washed highwaisted jeans and a classic white crewneck t-shirt. The ac tress managed to ef fortlessly slay a headto-toe green denim look and is serving the perfect inspiration to go for a coloured den im coordinated set.

alaika Arora's latest look successfully rocketed the sheer trend earlier this year as well when the diva head ed to Indian film producer Ritesh Sidhwani's party dressed in a one-shoulder black strappy and shimmery dress. Almost the same

was applied again as the 49-year-old rocked a mesh floorsweeping gown from Hana. This entailed noodle straps, a plunging neckline, and a thigh-high slit. The Aap Jaisa Koi dancer's look was styled by Maneka Harisinghani who picked out swimsuit bottoms in a lighter shade of green to wrap up this look. To take it out for a night, you can give it a touch of metallic gold just like Malaika's Christian Louboutin stilettos.

—Agency

Manushi Chhillar

Alia Bhatt

Her post...

Katrina Kaif

Deepika Padukone

Deepika donning the denim look

Malaika in mesh floor-sweeping gown from Hana

Katrina in a Manish Malhotra saare

Shraddha Kapoor

NEW(S) TIDINGS AT BHARAT24

ANITA HADA

Dr Jagdeesh

Chandra reached Bharat24-Vi sion of New India, NOIDA office, on the afternoon of Novem ber 28, to welcome Shamsher Singh who joined as the new Managing Editor of the national Hindi news channel on Monday. The entire team was present in the office to greet Shamsher Singh and the occasion was a joyous one with bou quets, welcome speeches and cake cutting. Jagdeesh Chandra welcomed Shamsher Singh and remembered his working as Execu tive Editor, ZEE Hin

dutand when Chan dra was Executive Director ZEE Media and CEO, ZEE Re gional channels and had launched ZEE Hindustan. Shamsh er Singh also reminisced those wonderful days under ‘JC sir’s’ leadership.

Syed Umar (Senior Editor), Manoj Jag yasi (Chief Business Officer & Strategic Advisor), Shashi kant Sharma (Con sulting Editor), Aditi Nagar (Political Edi tor), Shashikesh Ranjan (Social Me dia Editor), Amit Ojha (Output Edi tor), Sandeep Shukla (Editor, Mumbai Bu reau), Manoj Kumar (Ranchi Bureau Chief), Awanish Vid

hyarthi (UP Bureau Chief), Sandeep Mishra (Head, Con trol Room) Anchors Mimansa Malik, Poornima Mishra, and Shazia Nazir among others from Bharat24 welcomed Sham sher Singh.

Jinendra Singh Shekhawat( Editor, First India News) also gave a gracious welcome to the new Managing Editor.

Anita Hada, Shishir Awasthi, Anu Shrid har, Amit Baliyan, Ahtesham Siddiqui and the entire team was present at the momentous occa sion. Neeraj Kumar Singh also joined Bharat24 as Output Editor at the same time.

BE STRONGER THAN YOUR EXCUSES

MRIDULA SHARMA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Tell us some thing about yourself.

My name is Nandani Yadav,

I got settled in Delhi for my work, Current ly, I am fully focused on my career and making myself independent.

Where do you see yourself after the next 20 years?

I have no idea about 20 years,

How did your journey begin?

My parents weren't en couraging. I took part in a lot of pageants, and they trusted me because of my accom plishments. I was dis appointed since or ganisers and agencies in Delhi only want models who have studied modelling in Delhi or Mumbai.

What were some of the battles you fought and are still fighting in your journey?

I come from a religious home. In addition to society, I had to per suade my family. Peo ple spoke a lot and said a lot of unfavourable things about the mod elling business when I started, which scared my parents about my choice.

Catch the Spirit of the Season!

CITY FIRST

The 23rd edition of the capital’s much-awaited and fun-filled event - the German Christmas Market will be heldon December, 10 and 11 2022, at the Sunder Nursery (Picnic area), Nizamuddin, New Delhi from 11:00 am to 6:30 pm. Over 90 exhibitors will be showcasing the choicest collection of Christmas decorations and other festive goodies, German food products, home ac cessories, and much more. There will be an exclusive palate of in teresting life style prod ucts design er home accesso ries, highend fash ion wear, activi ties, sta tionery, garden accessories, de lectable food items and beverages on sale. Like every year, the event will

draw vis itors from the inter national corporate Diaspora and the crème de la crème of the Indian busi ness commu nity.

Organised by the IndoGerman Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), the

highlights of the event are German Bratwurst, beverages setting the spirit of the season and Christmas along with a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, and of course, Santa Claus! The two-day event is taking place under the aegis of the German Em bassy and is supported by the German School & Federation of Indo-Ger man Societies in India.

Thousand Letters for Clean Air Panchavaktram – the five forms of Shiva

CITY FIRST

Air pollution is one of the big gest environ mental threats in the world, especially for children. As per a Minis try of Health and Family Welfare report, India loses one child every three minutes due to this public health crisis. Chil dren are more vulnera ble to air pollution as their respiratory organs are still developing. To bring this situation to light, Otrivin’s Actions to Breathe Cleaner programme is highlighting the ill effects of pollution through the words of chil dren. This Children’s Day, 1,000 children in Delhi, which is one of the worstaffected cities, have writ ten open letters to adults, urging them to take an action to breathe cleaner.

Through these letters,

which have been written with “Pollution Capture Pencils”, the children are urging adults to take small actions, like taking a walk instead of driv ing, participating in tree plantation drives, etc. A common thread bind ing the words of over a thousand chil dren is a desire to live in a pollution-free envi ronment and a wish that every individual makes small amends to build a better future.

As part of the Ac tions to Breathe Clean er programme, Otrivin Breathe Clean installed

air purifiers to improve the air quality for ap proximately 1,000 school children. The pollution residue col lected from these puri fiers was then mixed with graphite* to create ‘Pollution Capture Pen cils’. Kids have used these pencils as instru ments of change by writing open letters.

CITY FIRST

REVA University presented Pan chavaktram to throw light upon burning issues like cli mate change and gender equality through dance in association with the School of Performing arts and Indic Studies on Saturday, November 26 at Fountain Lawn, In dia International Cen tre, New Delhi. Graced by Dance exponents Padma Bhushan Dr Raja Reddy, Padma Bhushan Dr Radha Reddy and Dr Sach chidanand Joshi (Member Secretary, IGNCA).

To emphasize the im portance of curtailing wastage of natural re sources and considering man and woman as yin

and yang to each other, the production aimed at culling out rare stories from medieval tests de picting the harmonious marriage of the five elements: Bhoomi, Jal, Agni, Vayu and Akash to create a world as we see. The same elements are mani festations of Shiva’s five forms: Sadyojata, Vama deva, Aghora, Tatpuru sha and Eshana which were represented in dance form.

On this blessed occa sion Dr Raja Reddy emotes, "I am highly im pressed with the way REVA University has held the responsibility of being the torchbearer of Indian Cultural Lega cy and is weaving it into the youth of the nation so seamlessly."

As the students of the School of Performing Arts and Indic Studies showcased their talent, Dr P. Shyama Raju ( Chancellor, REVA Uni

versity) said, “At our uni versity, while we try to imbibe sustainable prac tices to contribute in our little way to nature, we

also give equal opportu nities to our students, not forgetting the uniqueness each gender brings with them."

Rising from an orthodox family is the battle that every aspiring model has to face, but this beauty from Delhi makes it seem worth fighting, let's, dig into an uphilling journey of Nandani with City First

Nandani Yadav

Glimpses from the market

(L-R)

Bhushan Dr. Raja Reddy, Dr Sachchidanand Joshi Padma Bhushan Radha Reddy, Dr. P. Shyama Raju, Dr. M Dhanamjaya and Dr Vidya Shimladka

Padma Bhushan Dr. Raja and Radha Reddy with Dr. P. Shyama Raju (Chancellor, REVA University)

During the performance

Jagdeesh Chandra with Shamsher Singh and (L-R) Amit Baliyan, Sandeep Mishra, Shashikant Sharma, Manoj Jagyasi, Syed Umar, Shashikesh Ranjan, Anita Hada, Anu Shridhar, Shishir Awasthi and Jinendra Shekhawat.

Cake Cutting ceremony at the office- Shamsher Singh cuts the ceremonial cake as Jagdeesh Chandra looks on smilingly with entire team in attendance

Jagdeesh Chandra welcomes Shamsher Singh

Jagdeesh Chandra ceremoniously seats Shamsher Singh in the chair of Managing Editor flanked by the team.