First India-Mumbai Edition-31st October 2022

OVER 78 DEAD AS CABLE BRIDGE COLLAPSES IN MORBI

PM MODI, CM ANNOUNCE `2L, `4L EXGRATIA RESP FOR BEREAVED FAMILIES

Morbi: A major acci dent occurred due to the breakdown of a ca ble bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi, on Sunday. The newly constructed ca ble bridge over the Machhu river was opened 3 days ago and more than 78 died in the tragedy. About 500 peo ple were present on the bridge at the time of the accident. All of them

were celebrating the festival of Chhath. Around 400 people are feared drowned in the canal in this accident. Several ambulances have reached the spot to take the injured to the hospital, rescue work is going on. PM Narendra Modi speaks to Gujarat CM Patel and seeks ur gent mobilisation of teams for rescue ops af ter cable bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi.

Hyderabad: The lazy Sunday morning in Gollapalli in Mahbubnagar district in Telangana was turned into a sprint field as 52-year young Rahul Gandhi challenged a few young boys for a sprint even as other Cong leaders were caught unawares.

Telangana PCC President Revanth Reddy also started scooting from brisk walk. P6

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR 232 PLEAS ON CAA ISSUE TODAY

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear around 240 PILs, including a large batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), on Monday after a nine-day Diwali vacation.

BYE BYE PAK TRENDS ON TWITTER AFTER INDIA’S LOSS TO SA

Perth: India and South Africa fought in a low scoring game of 134 runs at the Perth Stadium in Perth on Sunday. India’s loss means Pakistan virtually crashing out of World Cup and the result has sparked a meme fest on Twitter following Men in Green’s confirmed elimination.

AAMIR KHAN’S MOM

HOSPITALISED AFTER HEART ATTACK

Mumbai: Actor Aamir Khan‘s mother Zeenat has reportedly suffered a massive heart attack at her Panchagani house. Aamir Khan was with her during Diwali when his mother suffered a heart attack. Actor immediately flew her to Breach Candy hospital.

PM Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PMRF for the next of kin of each of those who lost their lives in the bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each. ‘I express my condolences to the families of the citizens who lost their lives in the tragedy. The state government will provide Rs 4 lakhs to the family of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured,’ said CM Bhupendra Patel.

I am deeply saddened by the accident in Morbi. I have spoken to Harsh Sanghavi, MoS for Home and other officials of Gujarat in this matter. Local administration is engaged in providing relief work with full readiness, NDRF is also reach ing the spot soon. The administration has been directed to provide immediate treatment to the injured.

—Amit Shah, Home Minister

MODI’S MEGA PUSH... MAKE IN INDIA, MAKE

said to

`21,935 crore

WORLD!

Moni Sharma

Vadodara: Prime Min ister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the founda tion stone for the plant to manufacture C-295 aircraft in Vadodara in Gujarat. The joint ven ture of Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems Lim ited will manufacture 40 C-295 military trans port planes at the facil ity as part of a Rs 22,000 crore deal to supply 56 such aircraft. The Rest 16 planes will be sup plied from Spain.

Modi said that air craft manufacturing in Vadodara is India’s gi ant leap towards becom ing self-reliant in the aviation sector. He said that India is going to be a major hub for mani curing large aircraft.

horror: Death toll in Seoul stampede rises to

Seoul: South

Is it dusk for Koshiyari at Maha-Raj Bhavan, dawn for Mahajan?

rounds in Maharash tra’s political circles.

Sandeep Shukla

Mumbai: Are Bhagat Singh Koshiyari’s days numbered at Maharash tra Raj Bhavan? This question is doing the

While one would think that the opposition would be more in terested in any possi ble chang es in occupancy of the governor’s bungalow, those familiar with the development say it is BJP leaders who are keeping their fingers crossed. Another strong rumour doing the rounds in the top eche lons of the Maharashtra BJP is that Sumitra Ma

hajan could be the next state governor, especial ly if “certain leaders” had their way.

But what could the BJP have against Governor Koshiyari, who was ex tremely supportive of the saffron party even when the MVA govern ment was in power?

Those in the know say Koshyari’s off-hand ed comments at com munity-centric events have landed him in trouble with the Mar

athi populace.

For instance, shortly after the Sena-BJP gov ernment led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took charge, Koshyari told a gathering of the Gujarati-Marwari com munities that Maharash

tra’s economic prosperi ty would be at stake, if they decided to move out of the state. This did not go down well with other communities, especially those of Maharashtrian origin, at all. Complaints were made to the upper

echelons of the BJP at the time, which could now result in Koshyari getting the boot.

In addition, Koshy ari’s regular tête-à-têtes with the regular public have created fears that another “power centre” is being created in the state.

Should Koshyari be shown the door, insiders say Sumitra Mahajan could very well take his place, with her gender-in addition to her strong credentials as a politi cian and leader--playing a role in the decision.

“If Raj Bhavan was oc cupied by a woman, the opposition would think twice before making re marks about her. Moreo ver, Mahajan is a respect ed leader across party lines, owing to her stint as Lok Sabha Speaker,” a person close to the issue told First India.

“Furthermore, the change needs to be un dertaken before the local body elections, so that the barbs of these elec tions and the assembly elections can be mel lowed a bit,” this person added.

Guv’s off-handed comments at community events could well see him be replaced by ex-Lok Sabha Speaker soon

Sumitra Mahajan Bhagat Singh Koshiyari

First India Bureau

PM Narendra Modi speaks to Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, inquires about mishap

About 500 people were present to celebrate the festival of Chhath when a cable bridge collapsed in the Machchhu river, in Morbi on Sunday. More than 400 people feared drowned in the canal in this accident, the injured were soon taken to the neaby hospital.

BHARAT JODO YATRA: RAHUL SPRINTS WITH YOUNG BOYS IN T’GANA

PM lays foundation stone of Gujarat plant for C-295 planes

Total cost of

project

This is joint venture of Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Acharya Devvrat, Rajnath Singh, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Bhupendra Patel, Christian Scherer and other dignitaries during the foundation stone laying ceremony of C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing plant, in Vadodara, Gujarat on Sunday.

PHOTO BY ANI

Devotees offer prayers to setting sun during Chhath Puja, in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Ambulances carrying victims to the hospital near the Hamilton Hotel where incident happened in Seoul, South Korea on Sunday.

President Yoon

Yeol

by

on Oct

in Operation Blue Star.

BHARAT

Robert Vadra likens Rahul Gandhi to Shirdi’s Saibaba

Hails Cong’s rally led by brother-in-law as a harbinger of change, hope for the future

India

Shirdi: Hailing Rahul Gandhi’s “Bharat Jodo Yatra” as a har binger of change that is bringing together thousands of people in hope for the future, the Congress leader’s brother-in-law and businessman Robert Vadra said here on Sunday.

Vadra, who was in Shirdi town of Ahmed nagar district to offer prayers at the famous Saibaba temple, also said that Rahul Gan dhi’s thinking is similar to that of the spiritual leader’s (Saibaba) who preached unity. Howev er, he did not elaborate on the topic any further.

On the ongoing “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, he said, “Rahul Gandhi is visiting a number of places and meeting thou sands of people. These people are joining him in large numbers. Change will come in the future as

Rahul Gandhi is the new hope for people.”

He added: “The (Un ion) government (led by the Bharatiya Janata Party) will talk about our failures. They will make fun of the party (Congress), but Rahul and Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) will not stop. We are among the people, and will work together unitedly for them.”

The Gandhi family

was receiving immense love from people, he said, adding that the newly-elected Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) will strive to help the masses.

Sounding a warning to those thinking of quitting the grand old party, he said, “Those who want to leave can leave, but those who will stay will under stand the sacrifice

Food delivery man nabbed for having sex with dog

First India Bureau

Mumbai: A 28-yearold food delivery person was arrested on Saturday by Powai police for al legedly having sexu al intercourse with a dog inside a mall. A complaint was lodged by 61-yearold Minu Sheth, an animal activist and member of the NGO (non-governmental organization) Bom bay Animal Rights.

On October 29, Vijay Mohanni, President, Bombay Animal Rights, sent Sheth a video of the accused having sexual inter course with a sixmonth-old dog on the premises of Hira Pan na Mall. He asked her to file a complaint.

According to sourc es, the dog was reared by the staff of a bar and restaurant locat ed in the mall and the complainant as well.

The heinous crime was reportedly re corded by another de

livery person who wit nessed the act. He made a video and sent it to his colleagues

and other people.

“I am deeply hurt by this accident. The dog has been medi cally examined and has swelling in her private parts. She has been admitted to the hospital for treatment. She is very scared,” said Mohnani.

“We have registered a case against the ac cused and arrested him under Indian Pe nal Code (IPC) Section 377 (unnatural offens es) and the prevention of cruelty to Animal Act, 1960,” said a cop.

made by Sonia Gandhi and efforts of Rahul and Priyanka.” Ex pressing happiness at being able to pray at the temple here, Vadra said that Saibaba has given the message of unity.

“Currently our coun try is facing a lot of dis tress. Rahul Gandhi’s thinking is similar to that of Saibaba’s. Hope he gets (the saint’s) blessings.”

PAWAR TO JOIN RALLY ON NOV 08 Mumbai (PTI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will join the Congress’s ‘‘Bharat Jodo Yatra” on November 08, a day after it enters Maharashtra through Nanded. Confirming the development, Ma harashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said Pawar has ac cepted the invitation to be part of the nationwide march led by Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi will address rallies in Nanded and Shegaon in Buld hana, he said, add ing that Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Ud dhav Thackeray has also been invited but is yet to confirm.

Make Ajitdada CM: NCP amid Rana-Kadu feud

First India Bureau

Jalgaon: In a bi zarre move, the Na tionalist Congress Party--which lost power in the state when the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition govern ment fell in June-has now staked its claim to the top post in Maharashtra.

Recently, Rohit Pa war and Eknath Khadse had given statements in this re gard and put forth the name of former Dep uty Chief Minister Ajit Pawar as the par ty’s choice for the CM’s post.

Now, Anil Patil, leader of the party in the assembly, has also made similar re marks, highlighting Ajit Pawar’s impact on service delivery at the grassroots level, while working in the tripartite govern ment. “We believe Ajitdada should be come the Chief Min ister of Maharash tra,” he said.

Patil’s remarks come at a time when

BJP to hold yatra in Mumbai ahead of civic body election

First India Bureau Mumbai: With the Brihanmumbai Mu nicipal Corporation (BMC) polls nearing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to hold a yatra in Mum bai city next month as part of its election campaign. Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader, Devendra Fadnavis, will lead the march in November, said city BJP Presi dent Ashish Shelar.

Shelar said the party will awaken Mumbai kars about former CM Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s appease ment politics to garner votes.

“Extending support and seeking it is the decision of the people involved, but it is clear that there is a new thought to expand the vote base for political benefit. It smacks of appeasement and a specific narrative to get votes in the BMC polls,” said Shelar, adding, “The BJP sees a plot to create trouble

Shelar calls out former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for appeasement politics on part of Shiv Sena , slams him for support from Muslim organization

in the city. We want the plan to fall flat and we will set out on a yatra to create awareness among the voters.”

Shelar termed sup port to Thackeray’s Sena from a Muslim or ganization “an effort to mislead Marathi voters and woo Muslims.”

“The late Balasaheb

Thackeray played his politics beyond caste and religion. We want to know why Uddhav Thackeray is out to use caste and religion to seek votes. On the oth er hand, the BJP seeks votes on the develop ment of the city. Who ever stays in Mumbai, is ours,” he asserted.

the Eknath Shinde-led government, which is allied with the BJP, recently rolled back security for several political leaders in the opposition.

Patil said, “BJP is fully aware that the NCP will be a serious rival in the near fu ture, which is why they have snatched away our security.”

He added: “Fortyfifty MLAs (of the

Shinde-led faction) gave up their power for boxes (of money). This accusation comes not from the op position, but from (In dependent MLA) Ravi Rana, who is a sup porter of the current government. Every one knows why Bach chu Kadu is bitter. The allegations levelled by Rana should be denied by the CM and deputy CM.”

CRUCIAL READ

UDDHAV LOYALIST VISHAL KAPLE STABBED TO DEATH

Akola: Vishal Kaple, vice-president of the Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, was fatally stabbed by unidentified assailants in Akola. Officials said Kapale was seriously injured in the attack, which took place in Akola’s Jathar peth Chowk area. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital, but succumbed during treatment.

MLC DEPUTY CHIEF DEMANDS PROBE AGAINST OFFICIAL

Mumbai: Deputy Chairper son of the state Legislative Council Neelam Gorhe on Saturday demanded a probe against an official of the OBC Bahujan Welfare Department who has been accused of harassment by a femlae colleague. On Oc tober 18, he had allegedly asked the woman officer to sing for him inside his cabin “as he was bored”.

MAN DIES IN MUMBAI HIT-AND-RUN

Mumbai A man died in Mumbai’s Chembur area, after a speeding sports utility vehicle (SUV) rammed into the bike he was riding, officials said on Sunday, adding that CCTV footage shows that the SUV driver did not stop even after the rider was knocked off his vehicle. The vic tim was rushed to a hospital but died during treatment.

WOMAN MOWED DOWN BY TRUCK IN NAGPUR CITY

Nagpur: A woman riding pillion on a two-wheeler died after being run over by a truck in Nagpur city on Sunday, police said.

Reena Dilip Masram (23), a resident of Salai Mend ha village, was riding pillion on a motorcycle when it skidded. She fell and was run over by a truck that was reversing, killing her on the spot. A case under sections 304 (A) (death by negligence) and 279 (rash driving) has been registered.

GUTKA WORTH `10.16 LAKH SEIZED IN THANE; ONE HELD

Thane: The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) has seized banned gutka worth Rs10.16 lakh hidden below vegetable crates in a tempo in Taloja area of Navi Mumbai and arrested the vehicle driver, officials said on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, the Navi Mumbai police’s ANC intercepted the tempo coming from Bhiwandi in Thane district on Friday, the police said in a release on Sunday. A case was registered against the accused.

Rohit Pawar and Eknath Khadse had named ex-Dy CM as the party’s choice for CM, which Anil Patil has now reiterated

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greets the crowd during the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which he has been leading since early September. It will begin its Maharashtra leg in November.

—FILE PHOTO

Deputy Chief Minister

Mumbai

the women

dedicated to the Lord Surya, the

deity.

was joined by Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, MLA Amit Satam, and other party leaders.

BJP Mumbai city chief Ashish Shelar

—FILE PHOTO

A colleague recorded the ‘unnatural’

and circulated the

activist condemns crime

5 killed, 2 injured as dilapidated building collapses in Amravati

Local civic body had issued a notice for its demolition in July this year

First India Bureau

Nagpur: Five persons were killed and two others suffered seri ous injuries after a dilapidated groundplus-two-storey building collapsed in Amravati city of Ma harashtra on Sunday, a senior police offi cial said.

“The building located in Prabhat Chowk area of the city collapsed around 2 pm, killing five

persons and injuring two others,” Amravati Police Commissioner Dr Arti Singh said.

After the building collapsed, the bodies of the persons buried un der the debris were brought out by the res cue team. However, res cue work is still on, District Collector Pavneet Kaur said, adding that the inci dent will be investigat ed and strict action will be taken against

those responsible. A civic official said the Amravati Munici

pal Corporation (AMC) had issued a notice for the demolition of the

building in July this year as it had become old and dilapidated.

ANOTHER BIG CAT CAUGHT

IN AAREY COLONY FOREST

Second leopard captured from the area in 5 days, say Forest Dept officials; animal kept under medical observation at SGNP

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The state Forest Department caught a male leop ard from Aarey Colo ny of Mumbai early on Sunday morning. It is the second feline to be captured from the area in the last five days, said a sen ior official.

The leopard walked into a cage trap set up in unit 15 of the Aarey Colony, a green belt in the city’s western sub urb of Goregaon and

located close to the sprawling Sanjay Gan dhi National Park (SGNP).

It was later taken to a rescue centre at the SGNP, said the official.

Earlier, a one-and-ahalf-year-old girl was attacked and killed by a leopard in a forested area in unit number 15 of the Aarey Colony on

the morning of Octo ber 24 when the child followed her mother who was on way to a temple nearby.

On Wednesday, a male leopard was cap tured in Aarey’s unit number 17 and was also taken to the rescue cen tre in the SGNP. Forest officials suspect it is the same animal that

killed the girl, he said.

After the incident on October 24, the Forest Department had put up three cages at strategic locations in and around the site to capture the animal.

Forest officials will continue to monitor the movements of oth er leopards through 30 camera traps and a

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES

After the incident on October 24, the For est Department had put up three cages at strategic loca tions in and around the site to capture the animal. Forest officials will con tinue to monitor the movements of other leopards through 30 camera traps and a cage put up in the area, said an official.

cage put up in the area, he said.

Nearly 30 wildlife volunteers, members of NGOs (non-govern mental organzations), forest department offi cials and staff of the SNGP are working to gether to deal with the incidents of humananimal conflict in the area, he added.

MLA assures fencing for homes in Aarey area

First India Bureau

Notably, a four-yearold boy died and two others were injured when a portion of a sec ond-floor balcony at Datta Nagar slum, Cheetah Camp, col lapsed suddenly in Mumbai’s Trombay area on Saturday even ing. The injured were rushed to the nearby Shatabdi hospital where doctors declared Pranav Mane “brought dead”.

An eight-year-old boy and a 45-year-old man were undergoing treat ment and their condi tion was stable, an offi cial had said at the time.

FELINE STORIES

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the incident and an nounced on Twitter that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has decided to provide a financial assistance of Rs5 lakh to the families of all de ceased from the CM Relief Fund. Medical expenses of injured persons would be borne by the govern ment, he added.

night temp continues to drop in Pune; reaches

First India Bureau

Pune: The onset of winter has com menced in most parts of Maharashtra, bringing with it cool er temperatures and dry weather. Pune saw a dip in tempera ture below normal and Mumbai skirted the ‘October heat’ due to delayed monsoon withdrawal.

Mumbai: Officials of the state Forest De partment handed over a cheque for Rs10 lakh as compen sation to the family of the one-and-a-halfyear-old girl who was mauled to death by a leopard at Aarey Col ony in Mumbai.

that authorities would consider fenc ing homes in the area.

MLA

Ravindra Waikar, who was present on the occasion, said

The MLA, along with Range Forest Of ficer Rakesh Bhoir, from the Mumbai Range of Thane Forest Department (Territo rial), and Round Offic er Narayan Mane vis ited the deceased’s parents, Akhilesh and Bharti Lot, on Satur day. Another token of Rs10 lakh will be de

posited as fixed depos it in Akhilesh’s name.

Waikar also assured residents that he would

Family of 1.5-yearold girl killed in leopard attack receive `10 lakh from Forest Dept

talk to concerned au thorities regarding erection of a chain-link fencing surrounding the homes near Aarey. He also put forth the condition that locals

promise not to encroach on the area within the fencing in writing.

Around 30 camera traps are active in the Aarey Milk Colony, but no image of the leop ard has been captured yet. Since the day of attack, many videos of leopards from Aarey Milk Colony and Film City have been going viral on social media, including WhatsApp and Facebook.

FALLING SHORT

Pune city recorded a further drop in mini mum night temperature on Saturday. The city recorded the season’s lowest temperature of 13.2 °C. The temperature in the city plummeted by five to six degrees once the monsoon re ceded.

According to India Meteorological Depart ment (IMD) officials, cool and pleasant weath er is likely to continue in Pune and parts of Ma

Cool, pleasant weather likely to continue in Pune and parts of Maha in first few days of Nov: IMD officials

harashtra till the first few days of November.

Day temperatures could be marginally below normal in most parts of the state between Octo

ber 28 and November 03. However, the tempera ture is likely to fluctuate to some extent. From the day the monsoon receded, the temperature in Pune city dropped by five to six degrees. The drop in temperature has been continuing since Octo ber 23. It recorded the lowest October temper ature drop in the last four years.

Property tax: BMC unlikely to meet `7,000 cr annual target

proved, but we will try to reach as close as pos sible to the target,” said a civic body official.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Despite a new property tax col lection regime, the Brihanmumbai Mu nicipal Corporation (BMC) is not likely to meet its target this year. The corporation was planning to hit the Rs7,000 crore tax

mark for this finan cial year (2022-23), which would have in creased tax collection by 14 to 16%.

However, as the hike was not implemented sooner, the Mumbai civ ic body only managed to collect Rs904 crore as on October 27. The sum is slightly lower than the

property tax of Rs1,053 crore managed by the BMC on the same date

last year. “At the end of the financial year— March 2022—the BMC

collected Rs5,792 crore. Even this year, the tax regime has not been ap

The BMC has missed its targets for property tax collection for the last few years by at least 20 to 30%. In his budget speech for 2022-23, Mu nicipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had even talked about rea sons for the shortfall: capital value revision be ing deferred considering the COVID-19 situation and tax payers paying

50% of the arrears tax as per court orders, as the final decision against the new capital valuebased tax system is still pending in writ petition.

The new budget had also granted relief to residential properties of 500 sq ft or less carpet area. As per estimation, over 16,14,000 citizens got 100% relief from property tax payment. The amount of exemp tion to citizens was to the extent of Rs462 crore per annum.

TAX INCREMENT

As per the BMC Act, property tax is revised every five years. The last revision took place in 2015 and the next one was sup posed to take place in 2020. The civic body administration had proposed a 14% hike in tax. But its implementation was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and BMC elections have delayed it further.

Deputy Chief Minis ter Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the incident and announced on Twitter that Chief Minister Eknath Shin de has decided to pro vide a financial assis tance of Rs5 lakh to the families of each de ceased from the CM Re lief Fund. The medical expenses of the injured persons would be borne by the state govern ment, he added.

The divisional com missioner has been in structed to conduct an inquiry into the inci dent, Fadnavis tweeted.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Visitors take pictures of a tiger frolicking inside its enclosure at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo in Mumbai on Saturday. Meanwhile, in Nagpur, a tigress was found dead in Hingna area, said a Forest Department official. The big cat, around three-to-four years old, was found dead in a nullah at Chankapur village, around 25km from Nagpur, late on Friday night, he said. The exact reason for her death is yet to be ascertained but it is suspected that she died after coming in contact with a live electric wire or trap. The carcass has been sent for an autopsy and an investigation is underway.

—PHOTO BY ANI

Male leopard caught by officials on October 26.

—FILE PHOTO

MLA Ravindra Waikar

People enjoying cloudy weather in Mumbai. —FILE PHOTO

Bodies of the persons buried under the debris were brought out by the rescue team, who continued search and rescue operations well into the evening. —PHOTO BY PTI

ANIMAL WELFARE AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

SANJEEV CHOPRA

In fact, Article 51A has been called the Magna Carta of animal rights in the country. This view was taken by the Supreme Court when the The Animal Welfare Board of India filed a case in 2011 for an outright ban on Jallikattu because of the cruelty to animals and the threat to public safety. In 2014, the Supreme Court banned the bull-taming sport, but all political parties in Tamil Nadu were united in their view that Jallikattu was a cultural right protected under Article 29 (1). The matter is still under he consideration of the Supreme Court, and the arguments for and against will merit a separate column!

The first legislation on the subject of wildlife protection was the Wild Birds Protec tion Act of 1887 – but as the name suggests, it was limited to possession and sale of specified birds, as for exam ple the Great Indian Bustard and certain varieties of ea gles and owls during the breeding season. It was ex tended to include animals like tigers and cheetahs in 1912, and the legislation was called the Wild Birds and Animals Protection Act. However it should be noted that the British Indian laws were not applicable in the In dian states which occupied half the territorial area of the country at that time, and in any case it was in these states that ‘shikar’ had be come an important means to curry favour with the British Residents, Political agents and senior functionaries of the Raj. From 1935, forests, and by implication wildlife became were transferred to the provincial list, and it was not until the passage of the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act that these were again brought under the concur rent list .

While the generally ac cepted view is that the ex tinction of species like the cheetah and the near decima tion of tiger, as well as In dia’s commitment to the CITES, which was conceptu alised as early as 1963 led to the passage of the Act, some believe that this was the ‘last nail in the coffin’ of the princely states whose privy purses had been abolished earlier, and who were the only organized pa trons of ‘shikar’.

The Act provided for the formation of wildlife advi sory boards, wild life wardens, and the preparation of a comprehen sive list of the en dangered wildlife of the country.

The Act prohib ited the hunting and trading of endangered spe cies and provid

The first legislation on the subject of wildlife protection was the Wild Birds Protection Act of 1887 – but as the name suggests, it was limited to possession and sale of specified birds, as for example the Great Indian Bustard and certain varieties of eagles and owls during the breeding season

ed for licenses for the sale, transfer, and possession of some wildlife species besides paving the way for the forma tion of the Central Zoo Au thority. The National Board for Wildlife, an apex body, chaired by the PM was con stituted as a statutory organ ization under the provisions of this Act.

The next major fillip to the legal regime for the protec tion of wildlife came with the passage of the forty second constitutional amendment

of 1976 . It introduce section 48A which directed the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard wildlife and forests. Of equal significance was the inclu sion of wildlife protection under Article 51A which in troduced the concept of fun damental duties for the peo ple of India. The protection and and improvement of the natural environment includ ing forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compas sion for living creatures was

included amongst fundamen tal duties .

In fact, Article 51A has been called the Magna Carta of animal rights in the coun try. This view was taken by the Supreme Court when the The Animal Welfare Board of India filed a case in 2011 for an outright ban on Jal likattu because of the cruelty to animals and the threat to public safety. In 2014, the Su preme Court banned the bulltaming sport, but all political parties in Tamil Nadu were united in their view that Jal likattu was a cultural right protected under Article 29 (1). The matter is still under he consideration of the Su preme Court, and the argu ments for and against will merit a separate column!

To be continued...

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

After Uttarakhand it is Gujarat’s turn to announce forming a com mittee on uni form civil code. Uttara khand’s five-member com mittee of experts headed by Ranjana Desai, a retired Su preme Court judge, held its first meeting in July. Guja rat’s announcement comes just before Assembly elec tions with the obvious at tempt to consolidate Hindu votes although the BJP has a strong chance of romping home in the state one more time. Not ready to let BJP run away with advantage, Arvind Kejriwal has also demanded the implementation of uni form civil code. The two states are empowered to en act laws on succession and

Guj’s announcement comes just before Assembly elections with the obvious attempt to consolidate Hindu votes although the BJP has a strong chance of romping home in state one more time

family as these laws fall un der the concurrent list. Goa is the only state to have a uni form civil code.

Implementing a uniform civil code across the country, however, is the prerogative of Parliament. It was there on the BJP’s election mani festo in 1998 and 2019 and a Bill was proposed to be intro

duced in Parliament in 2019 but the proposal was with drawn for making changes amid protests from the Oppo sition. The Centre informed the Supreme Court in Octo ber of matter being placed before the Law Commission. Article 44 of the Constitu tion, being one of Directive Principles, allows UCC but successive governments have preferred religion-based civil laws to avoid changes in the personal laws of any commu nity. An attempt by the BJP to bring about a uniform civil law is strongly being op posed by the Muslim Person al Law Board. Despite Oppo sition the Central govern ment passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill to end the system of triple talaq.

DANGERS OF NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR SOCIETY ARE NO LONGER FICTIONAL

t’s no secret that technology can be a double-edged sword. Nuclear technology is a boon when it comes to power and medicine but that it can also destroy hu manity was demonstrated by the US in Japan during the Sec ond World War. As advance ments are made in new technol ogies, what may have once sounded fictional is now a real ity. Similar concerns now sur round new financial technolo gies like crowd funding, Inter net, social media and drones are also proving to be a risk for hu manity with the growing risk of terrorists misusing them. The biggest fear is of these technolo gies, like the dark web, falling into the hands of terrorists.

The danger becomes bigger when countries provide safe ha ven to terrorists and even equip ping them to carry out their ne farious designs. There are also countries which block any action mooted against a terrorist or ter rorist organization. Until Paki stan and China see sense in not protecting terrorists, UN’s coun ter-terror moves will be futile.

Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. Bible

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 173

l RNI TITLE NO.

MAHENG/2022/14652

Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701. Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057. Phone 022-46031417.

Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

Amit Shah @AmitShah

On the birth anniversary of Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the father of Indian Atomic Energy Program, I remember him by saluting his incomparable contribution in taking the country forward in the field of nuclear energy and scientific research. His extraordinary achievements made the country proud and empowered.

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp

Hearty greetings to all the countrymen on the auspicious occasion of ‘Chhath Puja’, the great festival of sun worship and folk faith. May the blessings of Lord Surya be upon the countrymen and may happiness, prosperity and health reside in everyone’s life.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

The writer superannuated as the Director of the LBS National Academy of Administration, India’s apex training institution, and curates Valley of Words: An annual Literature and Arts festival at Dehradun, where he currently resides

INDIA DOING WONDERS IN SOLAR, SPACE SECTORS, SAYS PM MODI

New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Naren dra Modi said on Sun day that India is doing wonders in the solar as well as space sectors and the whole world is “surprised” to see its achievements.

In his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio broadcast, Modi noted the ISRO’s recent success in plac ing 36 satellites in space simultaneously and de scribed it as a “special Diwali gift” from our youth to the country.

With this launch, Modi said, digital con nectivity will be further strengthened across the country and even the remotest areas will be more easily connected with the rest of India.

The prime minister cited it as a successful example for his gov ernment's push for self-reliance.

“When the country is self-reliant, how, it reaches new heights of success, this is also an example of this,” he said, noting that India was once denied the Cryogenic Rocket Tech nology but its scientists developed an indige nous technology.

RUN FOR UNITY ON PATEL’S BIRTH ANNIV TODAY

New Delhi: PM Modi on Sunday congratulated all the teams and athletes who participated, won medals and made records in the recently-concluded 36th National Games. In the 94th edition of ‘Mann ki Baat’, he ad dressed the nation saying, “Friends, Tomorrow, the 31st of October, is National Unity Day, the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Sard ar Vallabhbhai Patel. On this day, ‘Run for Unity’ is organized in every corner of the country. This race strengthens the thread of unity in the country, inspires our youth.”

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear around 240 PILs, including a large batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), on Monday when it would reopen after a nine-day Diwali vacation. A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi has listed for hearing as many as 232 petitions, mostly PILs, on October 31 on the issue of CAA alone.

COP FACES ARREST IN MODEL CODE VIOLATION CASE

Sultanpur (PTI): A court here has issued a con tempt notice and ordered the arrest of an investigat ing officer in a case of vio lation of the model code of conduct pending against former UP minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati. The court issued the contempt notice to Sub-Inspector Hari Prasad Verma.

12-DAY ED CUSTODY FOR C’GARH BIZMAN

Raipur (PTI): A special court here has sent to the ED’s custody businessman Suryakant Tiwari, a prime suspect in a money laun dering case linked to the alleged extortion of money from mining transport ers. Three other alleged accused, including an IAS officer, in the case are already in judicial custody.

K’TAKA HC QUASHES LAND ACQUISITION FOR GAJENDRAGAD-SORAB HIGHWAY

Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka High Court has quashed the land acquisition process in Byadagi taluk of Haveri district for widening a state highway. Allowing a batch of five peti tions filed by multiple owners, the HC held the state govt’s amendment to Section 34 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Karnataka) Rules, as invalid in respect of the land acquisition process for these land owners.

restored

First India Bureau

Dharamshala: Union Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge)

Dr Jitendra Singh said on Sunday that BJP re stored the image of Himachal Pradesh as a corruption free State.

Addressing a series of election meetings in dif ferent parts of the State, Dr Singh said that the pristine image of the Devbhoomi was compro mised by the erstwhile Congress Government

through a series of scams and scandals.

He charged that even apple growers were giv en a raw deal by the pre vious Congress govern ment and the Himachali Seb (Apple), instead of being a Himachal iden tity across the country, became a subject of scam and scandals.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that people of this hill state had not forgot ten the ill-deeds of exChief Minister Veer bhadra Singh, who

US Secretary of State

Blinken, Jaishankar discuss Ukraine war

BY ANI

New Delhi (PTI): PM Narendra Modi on Sun day described J&K as the pride of every In dian, and said that it is time to leave behind the old challenges and take full benefit of new possibilities.

Addressing the Jam mu and Kashmir Rozgar Mela through video conferencing, he also said that there is a need to work with a new approach and new thinking for fast-paced development.

PM Modi congratu lated 3,000 young people who received appoint ment letters to work in the government in 20 different places in Jammu and Kashmir. These youngsters will get opportunities to serve in various de partments like the PWD, health depart ment, food and civil supplies department, animal husbandry, Jal Shakti, and educationculture, he added.

NextGen launch vehicle for heavier payloads

New Delhi (PTI): As India eyes setting up its own space station by 2035, the Indian Space Research Or ganisation (ISRO) has proposed to the indus try to collaborate with it in developing a re usable rocket capable of carrying heavier payloads into orbit.

Dubbed as the NextGeneration Launch Vehicle (NGLV), ISRO Chairman S Som anath said the space agency was working on the design of the rocket and would like the industry to col laborate with it in the development.

“The intent is to bring industry along in the development process. All the mon ey need not be invest ed by us. We want the industry to invest to create this rocket for all of us,” Somanath told PTI here.

He said the rocket is planned to carry a 10 tonne pay load in the Geosta tionary Trans fer Or

—Somanath, ISRO Chairman

bit (GTO) or 20 tonnes to the low earth orbit.

Another ISRO offi cial said the new rock et would be helpful as India plans to have its own space station by 2035 and was also eye ing deep space mis sions, human space flights, cargo mis sions and putting multiple communica tion satellites into or bit at the same time.

The NGLV is envi sioned as a simple, ro bust machine designed for bulk manufactur ing that will make space transportation more cost effective.

Somanath said the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), ISRO’s warhorse rocket, was based on the technol ogy developed in the 1980's and cannot be used to launch rockets in future. ISRO plans to have the design of the NGLV ready within a year and offer it to the industry for production, with the first launch sched uled for 2030.

“Save democracy”, WB CM urges judiciary & leaders

Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal CM Mamata Ba nerjee on Sunday claimed that democrat ic powers are being seized by a “section of people” which she felt may lead to a presiden tial form of govern ment in the country.

Washington (PTI): US Secretary of State An tony Blinken held a tel ephonic conversation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and discussed the Ukraine war, counter terrorism and other re gional and global issues.

Jaishankar thanked Blinken for his “strong and clear message” on counter-terrorism.

“The two discussed regional and global is sues, including coun terterrorism coopera

tion and Russia’s con tinuing aggression against Ukraine,” Ned Price, the State Depart ment spokesperson said in a readout of the call.

“Good to speak to US Secretary of State @ SecBlinken. Thanked him for his strong and clear message yester day on counter-terror ism and 26/11 account ability. Discussed the Ukraine conflict and other regional issues,”

EAM Jaishankar tweet ed on Saturday.

Urging the judiciary and leaders in different fields to “save democ racy”, she said here that if this trend contin ues, then a day will come when a presiden tial form of govern ment will be brought in the country.

Without naming the BJP, she implied that the ruling party was be hind the move.

At the convocation ceremony of West Ben gal National University of Juridical Sciences, she urged the judiciary to ensure that the fed eral structure of the country remains intact.

“All the democratic powers are being seized

CJI UU LALIT ASKS LAW GRADUATES TO HAVE COMPASSION FOR MANKIND Kolkata (PTI): Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit on Sunday advised students passing out of law schools to keep their minds open to every sug gestion and to have compassion for mankind and society. Delivering his address at the 14th convoca tion of West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), of which he is the chancellor, the CJI said that capacity building of a person never stops and one continues to learn till death. Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, was the guest of honour at the convocation.

by a section of people; this might be going on for (bringing in) a presi

corruption-free state image’

Shimla district could not have fetched him more than Rs 64 lakh as against Rs 1.55 crore he showed in 2011.

dential form of govern ment,” said Banerjee, who was the chief guest.

Chirag to campaign for BJP in Bihar by-elections

Patna (PTI): In a shot in the arm for the BJP in Bihar, Chirag Paswan on Sunday announced that he will cam paign for the saffron party in by-polls to two assembly seg ments in the state.

Paswan, who heads a splinter group of the LJP told media at airport here upon his arrival from Del hi. Soon after land ing he said “Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will campaign for the BJP in the by-elec tions to Mokama and Gopalganj.”

MHA’s spl ops medal on Patel’s birth anniv

faced an IT probe of dis proportionate assets case over the dubious income shown by him.

The I-T probe in 2015 found that the sale of apples from Singh’s Shrikhand orchard in

He said that under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi, the Jairam Government in Himachal Pradesh not only ensured proper im plementation of the Modi Govt schemes, but also lived upto the “Double Engine” prin ciple by supplementing most of the Central schemes with State ini

tiated schemes. Dr Singh asserted that development be comes reality with dou ble engine governments, as this ensures fast ap provals for projects and their fast implementa tion and progress. The Minister said, that the UPA government from 2004-2014 neglected the developmental aspira tions of people of Devb hoomi and particularly the youth, with no major infra project approved for the state.

New Delhi: The Minis try of Home Affairs (MHA) is all set to an nounce ‘Union Home Minister’s Special Op eration Medal-2022’ on the occasion of Nation al Unity Day on October 31, the birth anniversa ry of Sardar Vallabhb hai Patel . The award will be declared on Oc tober 31 morning when the country will be cel ebrating a large-scale ‘Run For Unity’ event to mark the birth anniver sary of Patel, known as the Iron Man of India.

An official internal order issued by the MHA earlier this week mentioned that “Union Home Minister’s Spe cial Operation Medal” for the year 2022 will be declared on October 31, 2022 as per schedule”.

In his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio broadcast, Modi notes the ISRO’s recent success

PM tells J&K youth to leave behind past, look at future

S Jaishankar meets with Antony Blinken.

—FILE PHOTO

Dr Jitendra Singh addressing a series of public rallies in Sunder Nagar, Bahl and Nachan of Himachal Pradesh, on Sunday.

CJI UU Lalit interacts with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

SC TO HEAR 232 PLEAS ON CAA ISSUE ON REOPENING AFTER DIWALI TODAY

The intent is to bring industry along in the devel opment process.

All the money need not be in vested by us. We want the industry to invest to create this rocket for all of us... the rocket is planned to car ry a 10 tonne payload.

S Somanath

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the Miyawaki Forest and the Maze Garden at Ekta Nagar (Kevadia), in Narmada on Sunday. Bhupendra Patel is also seen here.

PM Narendra Modi addressing the J&K Rozgar Mela via video message, in New Delhi on Sunday.

Rahul sprints, others catch up

Jadcherla (Telanga na) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is leading the par ty’s pan-India Bharat Jodo Yatra on Sunday gave some exciting mo ments during the foot march as he suddenly started to sprint along with some school chil dren, forcing others to run.

Caught unawares over his sudden shifting of gears, Gandhi’s secu rity personnel, Telan gana Pradesh Congress Committee President Revanth Reddy and oth ers also started scooting from their brisk walk.

Joined by party leaders and cadre, Gandhi re sumed his foot march from here this morning and is expected to cover a distance of 22 kilome tres, Congress sources said. This is the fifth day of the party’s campaign in the state.

Gandhi will address a Corner Meeting at Soli pur junction at Shadna gar in the evening, be fore halting for the day.

The Gandhi scion-led yatra completed over 20 km on Saturday, before halting at Jadcherla X

Road Junction for the night. The yatra will cover 19 Assembly and 7 Parliamentary constitu encies in poll-bound Tel angana, spanning a total distance of 375 km in

the state, before enter ing Maharashtra on No vember 7. The yatra will take a one-day break on November 4. The Way anad MP will meet intel lectuals, leaders of vari

ous communities, in cluding personalities from the sporting, busi ness and entertainment sectors during the party campaign in the south ern state.

BJP trying to buy 20-30 TRS MLAs, topple govt: KCR

“MODIJI, SPEAK ON FUEL PRICE RISE”, RAHUL SLAMS PM OVER PRICE RISE, UNEMPLOYMENT Shadnagar: Slamming Prime Minister Naren dra Modi for “price rise and unemployment” in the country, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked as to why the Prime Minister is not addressing the issues. Speaking at a meeting as a part of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra,’ Gandhi alleged that government schools, colleges and universities in Telangana are being privatised by the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS government. “Narendra Modiji, say something. Gas cylinder’s

‘CONG WILL BRING BACK OLD PENSION SCHEME IN GUJARAT’

New Delhi (PTI): The Congress will provide fixed jobs for contrac tual workers, bring back the old pension scheme and ensure timely promotions if it comes to power in Gu jarat, former party chief Rahul Gandhi said. In a tweet, Gandhi said it is the Congress’ firm promise “fixed jobs for contractual workers, bringing back OPS”.

Kejriwal questions Gujarat BJP govt’s intention

Bhavnagar (PTI): Del hi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sun day questioned the in tention of the Bharatiya Janata Party govern ment in poll-bound Gu jarat behind its move to constitute a committee to implement the Uni form Civil Code and said if the BJP wants to do so, it should do it across the country.

Kejriwal asked whether the BJP-led

central government was waiting for the Lok Sabha elections to make

CRUCIAL READ

New Delhi (Agencies): Just a fortnight after the world witnessed the solar eclipse of the year, the globe is now all set to witness a total lunar eclipse on November 8. A lunar eclipse occurs during a full moon night, when because of the alignment of the sun, the earth and the moon almost on the same plane, in a straight line. During this alignment, the moon passes through the shadow region of the earth for some time. The lunar eclipse in its totality will not be observed from every where. The beginning of the partial phase of the eclipse will be seen from some countries of Latin America.

J&K L-G SEEKS

PUBLIC SUPPORT TO ESTABLISH PEACE

Jammu (Agencies): J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on October 30 sought the support of people to establish peace in the UT. “Some elements try to disrupt peace by killing innocent people and give an impression that whatever was happening in the past 30 years is the way forward. Violence leads to nowhere,” L-G Sinha said.He appealed to people to support the govt in establishing peace. “Peace is a must for development. People have to support the government in establishing peace,” the L-G said.

FIRE AT CANDY FACTORY LINKED TO BHANDARI’S MURDER

Dehradun (PTI): A fire broke out in an gooseber ry candy factory located on the premises of a resort linked to the Ankita Bhandari murder case.The incident took place at 10 am in the Yamkeshwar area of Pauri district, officials said. No casualties have been reported till now. An official said prima facie the accident took place due to overheating of an inverter installed in the factory. On the other hand, AAP leader Jot Singh Bisht termed the factory fire as another “conspiracy to destroy evidence” of the murder.

ELIMINATION OF FOREIGN TERRORISTS IN J&K FOCUS OF SECURITY FORCES: DGP

Srinagar (ANI): Elimination of foreign terrorists was the main focus of the security forces during the current year, Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General of Police, Dilbag Singh said on Sunday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Kashmir Marathon-2022 organised by the local police, the DGP noted that the security forces had specially focussed on wiping out foreign terrorists in Kashmir this year. “(As many as) 40 of them were killed this year so far with the result, that local militant recruitment also dropped significantly,” he said.

a move in this direc tion. The AAP’s nation al convener was ad

dressing a press confer ence in Bhavnagar on the third day of his visit to Gujarat where the Assembly polls are due this year-end.

The Election Com mission is likely to an nounce schedule for the Gujarat Assembly polls this week. The Gujarat government on Satur day said it has decided to form a committee headed by a retired High Court judge to imple

ment the UCC. Union minister had said the committee will be formed before the model code of conduct for elec tions comes into force.

Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi had said the decision was taken as per the provisions of Ar ticle 44 of Part 4 of the Constitution which ex pects the state govern ment to apply common law for all citizens.

IAS couple Parthasarathi, Leena back in UP after 4 years

Ahtesham Siddiqui

Lucknow: After four years in Uttar Pradesh’s bureaucracy, 1994-batch IAS officer Leena Johri is returning to the state. Johri’s husband IAS Parthasarathi Sen Sharma has also re turned to UP from Cen tral deputation after four years. He has been made the Principal Sec retary of Health & Fam ily Welfare.

Now IAS Amit Ku

mar Ghosh is posted as Additional Sector Road Transport and High ways while IAS Katru Ram Mohan Rao is post

ed as Chairman Vi sakhapatnam Port Trust. Johri and Shar ma are very smart, hardworking and hon est officers. Sharma has penned books like Ek Kadam Hazar Afsane, Musafir Hu Yaaro and Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke. The two officers are very capable and expe rienced. The govern ment may make Leena Johri the principal sec retary of an important department.

cost is now Rs 1,000. Petrol price used to be Rs 70 (per litre). Narendra Modi used to mention in every speech that petrol cost has gone up to Rs 70. Now, it has crossed Rs 100. Diesel used to be Rs 56 (per litre). Now, it has become Rs 100, but Narendra Modi does not say anything on that,” Gandhi charged. Alleging that BJP and TRS are trying to suppress people’s voices, the Congress leader said his ongoing march replicates true India wherein public concerns are heard.

MAHATMA GANDHI’S STATUE VANDALISED

Khandwa (ANI): A case of vandalism of Ma hatma Gandhi’s statue has come to light in the village Rangoon of Khandwa district. The statue was installed in the year 2000 by the Gram Panchayat. Vil lage sarpanch Kunwarji said that last night some mischievous elements broke the head of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

Hyderabad (PTI): Tel angana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday accused the BJP of ‘trying to buy’ 20 or 30 MLAs of the rul ing TRS and topple his government and claimed that ‘brokers’ from Delhi offered the sitting legislators Rs 100 crore each.

Addressing a poll rally at bypoll-bound Munugode segment, Rao said, however, the legislators, who are ‘sons of the soil,’ re buffed the offer.Hitting back, the BJP said the MLAs were not worth Rs 100 crore and assert ed it had no intention of toppling the TRS gov ernment. Rao said, “You have seen yester

COIMBATORE BLAST CASE

NIA begins probe into TN car explosion

day. (BJP thinks) there is one KCR who is talk ing loudly. Let’s see his (political) end. They have sent brokers to buy each MLA for Rs 100 crore.

They wanted to buy 20 or 30 MLAs and top ple KCR’s government and encroach Telanga na so that they can im plement privatisation as per their will.”His statement comes a day after three people who tried to “poach” four TRS legislators were ar rested and remanded to judicial custody.

The CM paraded all the four legislators dur ing the public meeting, praising them that such people were required in politics.

Minister retorts to Kapil Sibal’s IT Rules claims

New Delhi (Agencies): Union minister of state for IT Rajeev Chan drasekhar on Sunday retorted to Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal’s claims on the amended IT Rules and targeted for alleg edly jailing people by bringing the Section 66A of the IT Act.

Coimbatore (PTI): The National Investiga tion Agency (NIA) on Sunday officially com menced the probe into a cylinder explosion in car in which one person was killed in front of a temple in the city on Oc tober 23.

Led by NIA SP, Sri jith, a team of NIA offi cials went to the spot and inspected the area in the vicinity of the temple and to collect further evidence, police said.

They inquired about the incident with the priest of the Kottai Es waran Temple, Sunda reshan, police said.

DIWALI WITH A DIFFERENCE

Chennai (ANI): Refuting allegations over a delay in transferring the Coim batore car cylinder blast case to the NIA, the Tamil Nadu Police attacked BJP chief K Annamalai, asking him to “stop spread ing rumours” to defame the police department.

“There has been no delay in handing over the Coimbatore Car Cylinder blast case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA),” Tamil Nadu police said attacking Annamalai for “spreading rumours” to defame the police de partment of Tamil Nadu.

Sibal on Saturday had hit out at the Centre for the latest amendment of IT Rules alleging that it is the “comprehensive capture of media”, news agency ANI reported.

“First, they captured the TV networks and now, they are going to capture social media platforms. It’s the com prehensive capture of media,” ANI quoted Sibal as saying. He add ed, “Safe for the govern ment and unsafe for oth ers, that’s what the poli cy of this government always has been... The only platform left for or dinary citizens was so cial media; when state ments defamatory are made... people will be prosecuted.”

Massive Swachhata campaign led by schoolkids

thusiastically in this campaign led by their city’s urban local bod ies, the municipal cor porations.

First India Bureau

New Delhi: This Diwali was different for many cities in India. The usu al noise of crackers heard around Diwali was replaced by ‘Hu mein Garv Hai’ song and chants of Hara Gee la Sookha Neela on roads and in community

lanes as mobile vans and carts with two bins went door-to door col lecting segregated waste.

Over 75 lakh students from nearly 45,000 schools from across In dia took part in the in what may be termed a massive awareness cam paign on segregating

wet and dry waste at source initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (Mo HUA) towards achiev

ing the goal of garbagefree cities. In addition, citizens, community groups, and organiza tions participated en

The campaign titled “Swachhata ke Do Rang” , with “Hara Gee la Sookha Neela” as the campaign’s call to ac tion, stressed on mini mum two-bin segrega tion at source. Driven by Swachh Bharat Mis sion, over 3500 urban lo cal bodies across 32 states and Union Terri tories reached out to

schools, communities, going door to door and mobilizing households with on-ground aware ness programs on source segregation. Stu dents of different age groups enthusiastically participated in special activities like painting, art & craft creating green labels and blue la bels, building waste bins and toys out of waste, street plays, and took home the message of Swachhata Ka Up haar.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi waves while walking with padyatris during party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Golapalli on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

STOP SPREADING RUMOURS, SAYS TAMIL NADU POLICE

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao at an election rally in Telangana on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Delhi CM addresses the public meeting for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, in Bhavnagar on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

IAS officer Leena Johri and husband Parthasarathi Sen Sharma.

FPIs PULL OUT

`1,586 CRORE FROM EQUITIES IN OCTOBER

New Delhi: After with drawing over `7,600 crore last month, foreign investors have slowed down the pace of equity selling in India in October so far, as they pulled out `1,586 crore from capital markets. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers of `51,200 crore in August. The month of November is expected to have net inflow of more or less similar to this. Ac cording to the data from the depositories, FPIs withdrew `1,586 crore from equities in October (till 28).

MARUTI SUZUKI RECALLS 9,925 UNITS OF 3 MODELS

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is recalling 9,925 units of its three models, Wagon R, Celerio and Ignis, to rectify a pos sible defect in rear brake assembly pin, according to a regulatory filing. The affected vehicles are man ufactured between Aug 3 & Sept 1, 2022. Consider ing the safety of custom ers and out of abundant precaution, the company has decided to recall the suspected vehicles for in spection and replacement of the faulty part, free of cost, it added.

NINE OF TOP-10 FIRMS ADD `90,319 CR IN MARKET CAP

New Delhi: Nine of the 10 most valued domestic firms together added `90,318.74 crore in mar ket valuation last week amid a positive trend in equities, with Reliance In dustries emerging as the biggest winner. Barring Hindustan Unilever, rest nine companies witnessed addition in their market valuation, including Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Infosys and SBI. Reliance Industries remained the most valued firm in terms of market capitalisation, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, HUL, SBI, Air tel, HDFC & ITC.

TEA PRODUCTION JUMPS 16.5% IN SEPTEMBER IN INDIA

Kolkata: The Tea Board of India on Sunday said the total tea production in the country is estimated to be 190 million kilogram (mkg) during Sept, as against 163 mkg in the year-ago month, which is a surge of 16.5%. The production of tea leaves by the largest producer among states, Assam, is estimated at 109 mkg in the reviewed month whereas West Bengal’s production is pegged at 52.94 mkg in Sept, against 46.32 mkg.

‘

Lot of progress’ in India-UK FTA talks

New Delhi: There is “a lot of progress” in negotia tions between India and the United Kingdom on a free trade deal, Britain’s foreign minister said, even as the post-Brexit deal missed the key Diwali deadline.

“We have made a lot of progress in the negotia tions, and we continue to work for an agreement that works for both countries,”

James Cleverly said in an interview published Sun day. “We have been very, very explicit that our part nership with India is one that matters to us and one we want to enhance and de velop,” he was quoted as saying.

India and its former co lonial ruler have been for about 18 months negotiat ing the pact to boost trade and investments between the countries. The aim was to conclude the talks by Di wali, but no new deadline to conclude the talks has been set.

India’s gains in lieu of likely duty cuts for British alcohol and automobiles, and visa flexibilities would be the focus areas. In ex change, India wants more work and study visas for its

OTHER STORIES

INDIA, GCC GROUP LIKELY TO START FREE TRADE PACT NEGOTIATIONS NEXT MONTH

New Delhi (PTI): India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries are expected to start negotiations for a free trade agreement next month with an aim to boost economic ties between the two regions, an official said. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region -- Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

“Terms of reference for the agreement are being finalised and we expect to launch the negotiations next month,” the official said.India has already implemented a free trade pact with the UAE in May this year.

According to experts, the GCC region holds huge trade potential and a trade agreement would help in further boosting

India’s exports to that market. India imports predominately crude oil and natural gas from the Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia & Qatar, and exports pearls, precious and semi-precious stones; metals; imitation jewellery; electrical machinery; iron and steel; and chemicals.

citizens in line with simi lar recent deals struck be tween Britain and Austral ia and New Zealand.

The prime ministers of both nations are set to re sume talks and agreed on the need for early conclu sion. Political changes in the UK and British home secretary Suella Braver man’s recent remarks on Indians being the largest

PRIVATE EQUITY INVESTMENT IN INDIA’S ELECTRIC VEHICLE INDUSTRY MAY CROSS $1 BILLION IN 2022

New Delhi: Private equity investment in India’s electric vehicle (EV) industry could top a billion dollars this year, as investors see new pol icy initiatives and rising cost of fossil fuel accelerating the adoption of green mobility. Investors pumped in $906 million through 26 deals in the nine months to the end of September, including in battery manufacturing and battery swapping and charg ing stations, according to data from Venture Intelligence. In 2021, the sector had received $1.8 billion in investment from 31 deals. These deals are taking place across the EV ecosystem, including in EV battery manufacturing companies, battery swapping and charging stations.

RELIANCE CAPITAL’S BIDDING PROCESS SEES CONCERNS BY SUITORS

New Delhi: Suitors have raised concerns over the bidding pro cess, including the introduction of ‘challenge mechanism’, as the resolu tion process of debt-ridden Re liance Capital Ltd enters the final stage. According to sources, the decision to introduce a new clause ‘Challenge Mechanism’ in the bidding process has upset the bidders. The ‘Challenge Mechanism’ gives lenders the power to oppose any resolution plan as & when they want.

FIB

FEL DEFAULTS ON PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF `126.13 CRORE IN SEPT

New Delhi: Debt-ridden Future Enterprises has defaulted on a principal amount of `126.13 crore in September, which includes payment obligation of `98.35 crore for NCDs and `27.78 crore to banks, under a one-time restructuring scheme. Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL) had entered into the OTR scheme for COVID-hit companies with its consortium of banks and lend ers on October 27, 2020, as per the RBI guidelines.

group of people overstay ing in the UK were seen to be major hurdles in con cluding a deal, according to officials.

Cleverly told the Times that he saw it “as a very positive thing that so many Indians want to come and study in the UK, that Indi an businessmen want to do business in the UK. It’s a cause for celebration.”

Mumbai (PTI): For the first time since the imple mentation of the monetary policy framework in 2016, the Reserve Bank will sub mit a report to the govern ment on its failure to keep the retail inflation rate be low 6% for three consecu tive quarters beginning January 2022.

The monetary policy framework, which came into effect about six years ago, mandates the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to maintain retail inflation at 4% with a margin of 2% on either side.

In case of failure to maintain the inflation tar get for three consecutive quarters, the central bank, under section 45ZN of the RBI Act, is required to sub mit a report to the govern ment explaining the rea sons& spelling out the re medial actions it would be taking to check price rise.

The central bank has called a special meeting of the Monetary Policy Com mittee (MPC) on November 3, to prepare its report on missing inflation targets to the government.

Adani to invest $150 billion in pursuit of $1 trillion valuation

New Delhi (PTI): Richest Asian Gautam Adani’s group will invest over $150 billion across businesses ranging from green energy to data centres to airports and healthcare as it chases the dream to join the elite global club of companies with $1 trillion valuations.

The group plans to in vest $50-70 billion in green hydrogen business and an other $23 billion in green energy over the next 5-10 years. It will invest $7 bil lion in electricity trans mission, $12 billion in transport utility and $5 bil lion in the road sector.

Its foray into data centre business with cloud ser vices would entail an in vestment of $6.5 billion in partnership with Edge ConneX and another $9-10 billion is planned for air ports, where it is already the largest private

AMBITIOUS PLANS AHEAD

z It plans to invest $50-70 billion in green hydrogen biz & $23 bn in green energy over the next 5-10 years.

z It will invest $7 billion in electricity transmission, $12 billion in transport utility and $5 billion in the road sector.

z The group’s market cap is $260 billion in 2022

plans to set up a 1 million tonnes per annum PVC manufacturing facility at an investment of $2 billion and would enter the copper sector with a 0.5 million tonnes a year smelter at an investment of $1 billion.

The healthcare sector foray that will include in surance, hospitals and di agnostic and pharma would see an investment of $7-10 billion, with some coming from

ket capitalisation lion in 2015 and it is $260 bn

EARNINGS, US FED INTEREST RATE DECISION TO DICTATE SHARE MKT

New Delhi (PTI): The on going quarterly earnings season, the Reserve Bank’s special meeting of its ratesetting committee and the US Fed interest rate deci sion are the major events that would dictate trends in the equity market this week, analysts said.

Besides, auto sales num bers and macroeconomic data to be announced dur ing the week would also influence trading in the equity market. PMI data for the manufacturing sec tor would be announced on Tuesday, while the services sector numbers are sched uled to come on Thursday.

“FOMC meeting, RBI MPC meeting, auto sales numbers and Q2 earnings will drive the market this week. The market will have an eye on the unscheduled RBI MPC meeting. We are heading toward the last

IMPORTANT FACTORS

z Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for the manufacturing sector would be announced on Tuesday, while the services sector numbers are scheduled to come on Thursday.

batch of Q2 earnings, which will lead to stockspecific movement. Octo ber auto sales numbers will be important because they

z Auto sales numbers and macroeconomic data to be announced during the week would also influence trading in the equity market.

z Ongoing quarterly earnings season, the RBI’s MPC meet and the US Fed interest rate decision are the major events

will tell us about festival demand,” said Pravesh Gour, Senior Technical Analyst, Swastika Invest mart Ltd.

ROAD SECTOR HAS MAX NO. OF DELAYED PROJECTS

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 262, followed by railways at 115 and the petroleum sector at 89, showed a gov ernment report.

In the road transport and highways sector, 262 out of 835 projects are delayed. In railways, out of 173 pro jects, 115 are delayed, while for petroleum, 89 out of 140 projects are delayed, as per the latest flash report on infrastructure projects.

PTI

Four companies seek to raise over ` 4,500 cr via IPO

New Delhi (PTI): The pri mary market is heading for a busy time, with four firms, including Global Health Ltd, which operates hospitals under the Medan ta brand, and micro finance

Fusion Micro Fi nance Ltd, lining up their IPOs this week.

other two compa nies whose IPOs are ready to open are DCX Systems, a manufacturer of cables and wire harness assem blies, and Bikaji Foods In ternational.

KNOW ABOUT THE COMPANIES

z Global Health Ltd, which operates hospitals under the Medanta brand, and micro finance lender Fusion Micro Finance Ltd, lining up their IPOs this week.

z The other two companies whose IPOs are ready to open are DCX Systems and Bikaji Foods International.

November 2, while that of Fusion Micro Finance will be open during November 2-4. The IPOs of Global Health and Bikaji Foods will open for subscription on Nov 3 & close on Nov 7.

In 2022 so far, as many as 22 companies have floated their IPOs to raise over ` 44,000 crore. In 2021, 63 IPOs raised more than `1.19 lakh crore.

The Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Divi sion (IPMD) is mandated to monitor central sector in frastructure projects cost ing ` 150 crore and above based on the information provided on the Online Computerised Monitoring System (OCMS) by the pro ject implementing agen cies. The report showed that the Muneerabad-Mah aboobnagar rail project is the most-delayed project. It is delayed by 276 months.

The second-most delayed project is the UdhampurSrinagar-Baramulla rail project which is delayed by 247 months. The third-most delayed project is BelapurSeawood-Urban Electrified Double Line, which is de layed by 228 months.

Together,

four com panies

expected

initial share sale of DCX Systems will open for public subscription on Oc tober 31 and conclude on

“Volatility of the second ary market has led to a weak IPOs market in 2022 and it is expected to remain subdued going ahead,” Vi nod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial said.

First India Bureau

RBI’s MPC to discuss inflation report this week

Student held for offensive post against CM, Dy CM

Cyber team conducted raids in Ahmednagar and detained two suspects who were brought to Mumbai for investigation

Mumbai: The cyber wing of the Maharash tra police force has ar rested a 29-year-old PhD student of an Ahmednagar univer sity for allegedly post ing objectionable com ments against Chief Minister Eknath Shin de and Deputy CM De vendra Fadnavis on Twitter, an official said on Sunday.

The cyber cell had re ceived a complaint on October 14 about an uni dentified person using a particular Twitter han

‘Did RSS chief visit mosque to accept Islam?’

dle to post the objection able comments, and also to abuse women and fe male journalists, he said.

To avoid legal action, the accused was using Wi-Fi-VPN (virtual pri vate network) and trying to create an impression that he was posting the content from Mumbai. However, when the cyber wing conducted a techni cal analysis of the tweets, officials found that the accused was posting them from the Mahatma Phule Agricul tural University at Ra huri in Ahmednagar district.

Thereafter, a cyber team conducted raids on some suspects in Ahmed nagar on Saturday, de

tained two suspects and brought them to Mum bai for further investiga tion into the matter.

The investigators lat er arrested the main ac cused in the case from the university and seized

two mobile phones and a laptop, he said, adding that they are also look ing into whether some of the content posted by the accused was created by other persons abetting the crime.

The police have sent the seized gadgets to cy ber forensic experts to investigate whether more persons were in volved in creating the content of the tweets.

After the arrest, the ac cused was produced be fore a local court which remanded him in police custody till November 02, the official said.

1 BOOKED FOR USING BMC CHIEF’S PICTURE FOR FRAUD

Mumbai (PTI): An unidentified person has been booked for using the photograph of Bri hanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ad ministrator Iqbal Singh Chahal as the display picture of a Whatsapp account to lure people into sending him gift cards using a wellknown payment app, a police official said on Saturday. The complaint by a BMC official stated

that at least three cur rent and former civic officials received What sapp messages from an unidentified number as part of this gift card fraud, he said.“The complainant got a mes sage on Wednesday but it seemed suspicious. On verification, he real ized the sender was not the civic chief but an unidentified person and approached the police,” he said.

Nagpur to Pune journey will be possible in eight hours: Nitin Gadkari

Mumbai: Union Min ister of Road Trans port and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Sun day announced that in order to alleviate the inconvenience caused to commuters while travelling from Nagpur to Pune, the 701km Nagpur-Mum bai Samruddhi Ma hamarg will now be linked to the newly-

proposed 268km-long Pune-AhmednagarAurangabad Access Control Green Ex pressway near Au rangabad.

This road will be con structed with a com pletely new alignment by the National High ways Authority of India (NHAI).

According to Gadkari “This will make it pos sible to travel from Pune to Chhatrapati Samb hajinagar (Aurang abad) in two and half hours and from Nagpur to Chatrapati Sambhaji

nagar (Aurangabad) in five and half hours through Samruddhi Mahamarg.”

Gadkari’s announce ment came days after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde disclosed that the first phase of 520km Nagpur to Shirdi of the Samruddhi Ma hamarg will be commis sioned in November.

The state government proposes to inaugurate the first phase by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi as it awaits confirmation of his availability.

“Samruddhi Express way connecting Nag pur-Mumbai will be commissioned soon from Nagpur to Shirdi.

The distance from Nagpur to Aurangabad is 410km and further Samruddhi will be con nected to the Aurang abad-Pune expressway with a distance of

268km. Thus, a total length of 678km from Nagpur to Pune can be covered in eight hours,” Gadkari said.

He further added that it will be a six-lane expressway expandable to eight lanes with a de signed speed of 120kmph.

“It will also connect Pune Ring Road to Major Highways in the region,” Gadkari informed.

Nanded: Days after Mumbai BJP Presi dent Ashish Shelar fired salvoes at Ud dhav Thackeray for claiming that Marathi Muslims support him, senior Sena function ary Sushma Andhare has hit back at Shelar, asking if RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s re cent visit to a mosque in Delhi meant he was going to convert.

She also asked why Prime Minister Naren dra Modi has been seen wearing a skullcap, typi cally worn by Muslims.

Responding to a re cent article in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, which said the Marathi Muslim Seva Sangh sup ports Uddhav Thackeray, Shelar had accused Thackeray of looking for Muslim and Marathi votes for which he has used the language cun ningly to assert promi nence in populance.

In turn, Andhare hit out at Shelar saying: “Shelar has tried to cause confusion by im plying that the article is meant for Marathi Mus lims. Did the Sarsangh chalak go to the mosque to convert to Islam? Why did Modi wear a Muslim cap? Ashish Shelar should answer on these issues too.”

Andhare also cor nered the BJP on recent developments in the state. “So far, seven pro jects have gone out of the state. The CM does not have time, since he is busy celebrating festi vals. And the deputy CM does not get time from the politics of conspira cy. The chief minister of Gujarat should be given charge of Maharashtra, as well,” she said.

ATTEMPT TO RECTIFY PAST

—PHOTO BY ANI

Maha, Karnataka Governors to meet in Kolhapur on Nov 04

ON 38TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY REMEMBERING THE IRON LADY

ADITI NAGAR

ndia has had a fair share of political hap penings that have resulted in a ‘rup ture’ of sorts, in the way the nation was be ing led. The 90’s were tumultuous times for the nation when econ omy was at its lowest, governments fell and social structure was being shaken. But per haps, the biggest po litical happening, since Independence, was the cold blooded murder of the first, and till now the only, female Prime Minister of the nation - Indira Gandhi.

First India Bureau

Bengaluru: An infor mal inter-state meet ing of Governors of Maharashtra and Kar nataka has been con vened on November 04. During the meeting both the governors are likely to discuss infra structure and policing in border districts among others issues.

The two states have historically often sparred over border and language issues in the recent years.

Under instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs and ad vice by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Governor’s confer ence, Karnataka Gover nor Thaawarchand Ge hlot is scheduled to meet Maharashtra Gov ernor Bhagat Singh Ko shyari at Kolhapur.

The meeting comes after last couple of years of tension in the border districts during

the tenure of Maha Vi kas Aghadi (MVA) with its constituents Nation alist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiva Sena broaching the border is sues repeatedly, includ ing merger of Belagavi with Maharashtra.

The Governor’s office has directed the state government to depute senior officials from the border districts of Bela gavi, Vijayapura, Kalaburgi, and Bidar

for the meeting. The of ficials have been in structed to prepare a quick power point pres entation regarding is sues pertaining to in frastructure, police and security, social, and other matters in interstate border districts.

It has also asked the presentation to be sub mitted to the Gover nor’s office well in ad vance for the perusal of the Governor.

Since that day, 38 years ago, political commentators and observers have ar gued about India that could have been had Indira been alive; simply because the years of work that were put in to develop her as an ideal ‘lead er’ and not a ‘consti tutional post holder’ may not come to pass again. Known for her abil ity to take hard deci sions and to stand by them, Indira left a grand legacy to carry forward, a legacy which was carried ahead, for a short time, by her son, who groomed, like his mother, young lead

void of Indira’s ‘guardianship’, the current leadership of Congress does not ap pear to be able to car ry forward the grand legacy left by Indira.

But while Indira may have passed on, her ideology and abilities are perhaps being displayed by Ashok Gehlot, a three time CM of Rajasthan, who like her mentor Indira, with whom he came in contact in his twenties, is known for running a ‘nononsense’ govern ment and standing by the decisions taken in public interest.

dira relevant even today is the fact that even after 38 years dira is still ‘relevant’ in the current politi cal clime. In 1999, In dira Gandhi was named “Woman of the Millennium” in an online poll organ ised by the BBC. In 2020, Gandhi was named by Time mag azine among the world’s 100 powerful women who defined the last century. In fact, such was her ‘influence’ that a whole generation of female children in Afghanistan was named Indira!

On her 38th death anniversary, First In dia remembers the ‘Iron Lady of India’!

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

In

states, KSRTC

Kolhapur

Students use their art to pay tribute to the victims of the Halloween stampede in Seoul, in Mumbai on Sunday.

First India Bureau

Nitin Gadkari

Mohan Bhagwat

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.

t was a night of glitz and glam our, livewire performances and nervewracking deci sions, as the winners of First India Queen were announced in a star-studded cere mony at Jade Ballroom, Hotel Sahara Star, Mum bai on Friday. With 30 finalists from across the country battling it out for the coveted title, the jury had a tough time choosing the top five.

Jagdeesh Chandra graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.

The scintillating even

ing in the mesmerising land of picturesque beaches and the City of Dreams began by wel coming Jagdeesh Chan dra, the man who made it possible for every young girl to dream big with confidence so that she may reach greater heights. While congratu lating all the finalists,

City First brings to you glimpses from the coruscating star-studded eve full of fame and fortune witnessed in the gratifying grand finale of First India Queen organised at Jade Ballroom, Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai on Friday, October 21.

Jagdeesh Chandra wel comed the audience and said, “We strongly wish to open the gates of op portunity in the fashion and entertainment in dustry for many deserv ing girls. First India and youth are natural allies and we promote talent for one and all.”

anchor Sim

MITALI DUSAD mitalidusad01@gmail.com

(L-R) Victoria Fernandes (First runner-up), Bhakti Jani (Winner of First India Queen) and Svara Mandalik (Second runner up)

Jagdeesh Chandra walks the ramp with Bhakti Jani (Winner First India Queen). Also seen are Pearl Agarwal (Winner, First India Queen 2021), Aditi Jaggi Rastogi and Parimal Mehhta. Also seen are other finalists

Lekh Uthaiah, Pearl Agarwal, Chahak Bhandula and Shreya Gupta

Jagdeesh

Chandra with (clockwise) Kajol Saraswat, Swati Yadav and Bhakti Jani

—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA

Many celebrities and dignitaries graced the mega event. Rajendra Jain (MD SVAR Group), Archana Kochhar (Fash ion Designer), Parimal Mehhta (FounderBlanckanvas Pvt Ltd), Dr Priti Shenai (Skin works), Roopmati Ma nere (Dy. Commissioner State Tax (GST) Thane), Aditi Jaggi Rastogi (Ce lebrity Fashion Design er), Jayanthi Ballal (De signer and Founder Mysore Fashion Week), Poonam Pandey (Ac tress), Ishika Taneja (Su permodel and Miss India winner), Shibani Kashy ap (Singer), Raayo S. Bakhirta (Actor), Mad huri Bhosle (FounderIRA), Karishma Modi (supermodel and ac tress), Akanksha Bhalla (supermodel and ac tress) and Nitinn R Mi ranni (Actor) were pre sent as the jury mem bers on the occasion.

On the occasion, var ious celebrities namely Riya Soni (Emerging

Star), Manish Raising han (Versatile Actor), Umar Riaz (Most popu lar Actor), Vishal Koti an (People’s Choice), Rehaa Khan (Style Icon), Sakshi Dwivedi (Sizzling Personality) were also felicitated by First India.

Parimal Mehhta, Founder of Blanckanvas Pvt Ltd while congratu lating the participants also thanked Jagdeesh Chandra and the First India team for giving them the opportunity to showcase this extrava gant event.

First India Queen is a platform of inspiration, learning and stardom for a common girl – coming from different parts of the country. The pageant celebrates inner beauty and talent as much as the physical appearance of any contestant, and hence it is instrumental in setting standards for evaluating and express ing the inner beauty of an Indian woman.

EVE FULL OF CHARISMA AND

Jagdeesh Chandra and Deepak Agarwal felicitating Sakshi Dwivedi

Jagdeesh Chandra and Deepak Agarwal felicitating Vishal Kotian Jagdeesh Chandra and Deepak Agarwal felicitating Manish Raisinghan

Mrunal Jain

Yadav

Jagdeesh Chandra addressing the audience.

Karishma Modi, Parimal Mehhta, Raghu

Poonam Pandey, Deepak Agarwal

Shukla

members

Pandey, Nitinn R Miranni, Akanksha Bhalla,

Modi, Raayo

Rehaa Khann

Shaheer and Zahrah open up on their song ‘MAIN TENU CHADH JAUNGI’

the song, experience, memo ries and more.

ed people to watch this song “

Shaheer Sheikh and Zahrah S Khan have come together for a wedding single, which was re

Fans have been waiting for the song for a very long time speaking on the same Zahrah shared, “We were waiting for the right time to release this, as it is wedding season now we believe it’s the most appropriate timing now. Although we shot this song way back, when not even my movie songs were out this one with Shaheer is my ut most special

Shaheer who’s known for delivering roman tic singles shares his ex perience of working on a peppy number, “This song was very different, I had never done something like this before and that excited me. Her voice is so different and good

ing me up. They give me the push to show case my talent. The baraat moment on the ghodi was my craziest and most emo tional moment. For an in stance, all that vibe felt real. This was a concept which was very close to my heart and when I saw that happen ing it gave me goosebumps.”

Sharing his craziest expe rience of life Shaheer said, “My craziest thing was leav ing behind my law studies and coming to mumbai was the life-changing decision for me. There were

many sweet and crazy mo ments from the song too that’s going to stay back with us.”

Zahrah sharing her experience of working with Shaheer said, “He’s a very sweet and humble person with very posi tive energy, also at the time he’s an extremely qui et person. We always crash each other on the lane outside our house”

Well, the gorgeous Zah rah S Khan has been acing it on the work front talking about the same she shared, “For me, acting and sing ing go hand in hand, I ex press my emotions through my voice. Music was always my hobby and never did I think about this as a career. But in 2019 I just happened to dub a song randomly and then another friend of mine heard it and asked me to pursue the same. And the rest is history”

Ananya Panday AS POO!

Recently, Ananya was seen at tending a Hal loween party in the city and she made heads turn in her Poo outfit.

Ananya wore an outfit that was inspired by Bebo's on-screen character Poo from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Now,

is simply unmissable! Ananya has been a huge admirer of Bebo and she has men tioned it in her in terviews. For the Halloween party, Ananya was seen sporting a pink shim mery crop top with a short skirt. Kareena took to her Instagram story and shared a col lage of Ananya. It looks like Bebo was mighty impressed by Ananya's Poo look. Kareena penned a sweet note too. She wrote, "You looked PHAT! Happy birth day you star...lots of love!" PHAT (Pret ty, hot and tempt ing) is slang that was used by Bebo in the film. Well, that's the mil lion-dollar re action we all were wait

For actor Shivin Narang, the days after Diwali are always full of reliving memories of the festival and planning things for the year ahead. The ac tor is taking some time off for family this year.

“After Diwali, this time, I have taken a break till the 26th. From the 27th I’ll start shooting again. After Di wali, there is a lull and we relive those moments and keep talking about it, keep seeing those pictures. We get excited by thinking of what we will do next year on Diwali. It gives you a great feeling and I always wish that we cele brate love and happiness This is what Diwali is for me,” he says.

The actor further stated that he loves Diwali time. “Whenever Di wali is around the corner, no matter what you are doing, whether you are at home. Festivities are always on your mind. I always love to celebrate Diwali.”

Nyrraa M Banerji’s tribute to Madhuri

Actress Nyrraa M Banerji, who is cur rently seen in Pishachini, recently did a music video for the iconic song of Madhuri Dixit 'Humko Aajkal Hai Intezaar' from Sailaab. Everyone is stunned to see her rendition. Speaking more about recreating the song Banerji says,” I am a huge admirer of Madhuri Dixit. I am fortunate that a lot of people have told me that I have expres sions like hers. I have grown up watching her films and dances. She was a unique package of innocence and sensuality. I have chosen this song because it’s one of my favourite songs and went on to create history. People used to wait for this song to come on television. I have learnt Kathak and dancing is something I enjoy doing. The elder sister of Madhuri Dixit was my mom’s class mate so I used to hear a lot about Madhuri Dixit.”

RAKUL PREET SINGH raises the temperature

active while sharing pictures from her holiday in the island nation. On Friday, she posted a stunning picture, in which she can be seen dressed in a red swim suit, which she wore with a printed cape. The other image showed her loung ing by the beach in an orange strapped swimsuit featuring thin straps, a wide U neckline, a figure-hugging silhou ette, and high-leg cut-outs. The mono kini, styled with a no-makeup look and a messy top bun, is from the shelves of the cloth ing label The Summer House.

"#thankgod for a Meanwhile, before going on a holiday, Rakul Preet Singh was busy promoting

With David Dhawan's hilarious caper in 1997, Govinda rose to the position of Hero No. 1. It's a name that has become recognisable through time. Tiger Shroff has joined filmmaker Jagan Shakti's next project, Hero No. 1, which is being pro duced by Vashu and Jackky Bhagnani, making him Hero No. 1, Twenty-five years after the release of the movie. All the moviegoers may see Tiger Shroff headlining an upcom ing project, The big-budget, action-packed thriller is scheduled to begin produc tion in 2023.

To bring heroism back in a huge way, Tiger Shroff, Jack ky Bhagnani and Jagan Shak ti want to make a ground breaking tentpole action thriller. Jagan has been com mitted to making a film for Pooja Entertainment and the script of Hero No.1 is among his most ambitious dreams.

Main Tenu Chadh Jaun gi is produced by T-Series and directed by Navjit Buttar.

TIWARI

Tiger Shroff

Nyrraa M Banerji

Shaheer Sheikh and Zahrah S Khan

Ananya Panday

Still from the song

Rakul Preet Singh

Shivin Narang

Her post...