First India-Jaipur Edition-5th February 2023

OUR

MUMBAI l SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00

OPPN PARTIES RUNNING AWAY FROM DISCUSSION IN PARL: THAKUR

Jammu: Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said govt has nothing to hide on Adani issue and Opposition parties are creating a ruckus in Parl to evade debate on people-friendly budget. Oppn insulted President Droupadi Murmu by stalling a discussion on motion of thanks to President’s address, they apologise to her. P5

RNI

TITLE

NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 269

BJP APPOINTS DHARMENDRA PRADHAN K’TAKA POLL IN-CHARGE

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday appointed Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan its in-charge for upcoming Karnataka assembly polls, a party statement said. TN BJP unit President K Annamalai will be co-incharge for high-stakes polls where both ruling party, Congress have launched intensive public outreach.

IN A FIRST: SUPREME COURT CELEBRATES 73RD FOUNDATION DAY

NO CASE IS BIG OR SMALL, SAYS CJI

Moni Sharma

New Delhi: Addressing a gathering to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the Supreme Court of India on Saturday, CJI DY Chandrachud said, “For the Court, there are no big or small cases -every matter is important. Because it is in the seemingly small and routine matters involving the grievances of citizens that issues of constitutional and jurisprudential impor-

Crucial

READ

SIT FILES 935-PAGE CHARGESHEET AGAINST FORMER ANDAMAN CS

tance emerge. In attending to such grievances, the Court performs a plain constitutional duty, obligation, and function.”

Chief Justice of Singapore Supreme Court Sundaresh Menon also attended the program and delivered a lecture on “The Role of the Judiciary in a Changing World”. Justice Menon said, adding that truth decay refers

TOP COURT GETS 5 NEW JUDGES; ITS TOTAL STRENGTH REACHES 32 NOW

5judges were appointed to the Supreme Court on Saturday with the Centre clearing the names recommended by the Collegium on December 13 last year. Once they take oath early next week, the strength of the apex court will go up to 32 judges.

z RAJASTHAN HC CJ

No judiciary vs Centre tussle, says Kiren Rijiju

CJI DY Chandrachud with Singapore SC CJ Sundaresh Menon, Justices SK Kaul, KM Joseph and Ajay Rastogi on Saturday.

to the “proliferation of misinformation and devaluation of truth which attacks the justice system.”

Supreme Court of India is the busiest courts of the world and judges here are the most hard working ones.

—Sundaresh Menon, Singapore SC Chief Justice

Justice Pankaj Mithal

z PATNA HC CJ

Justice Sanjay Karol

z MANIPUR HC CJ

Justice PV Sanjay Kumar

z PATNA HC

Justice Amanullah

z ALLAHABAD HC

Justice Manoj Misra

‘SHAHI’ PRAYERS FOR PROSPERITY!

New Delhi: The SIT probing a gangrape case against former Andaman and Nicobar Islands CS Jitendra Narain, has filed a 935-page chargesheet against him and three other accused. The team examined 90 witnesses and scientific, electronic evidence in the case.

MORBI BRIDGE CASE: GUJ COURT REJECTS

BAIL PLEAS OF ALL 7

Morbi: A sessions court in Gujarat denied bail to 7 arrested in connection with the Morbi bridge collapse incident that left 135 people dead in October, last year.

Justice PC Joshi rejected bail pleas of 7 accused, including 2 managers of the Oreva Group.

RAIDS AT CHENNAI

FIRM LINKED TO LOSS OF VISION, DEATH IN US

The percentage of Adivasis declining in Jharkhand under Hemant Soren govt, says Amit Shah Soren government is the most corrupt in the country, says HM Amit Shah at ‘Vijay Sankalp Rally’

First India Bureau

Deoghar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday offered prayers at the Baba Baidyanath Dham temple in Jharkhand's Deoghar. Home minister offered prayers at the temple with his wife, Sonal Shah.

Addressing BJP's 'Vijay Sankalp Rally' rally here, he said the population of Adivasis has deceased from 35 per cent to 24 per cent due to massive infiltration from across the international border. He alleged that infiltrators were grabbing land in the state after marrying tribal women.

SHAH LAYS FOUNDATION FOR

`450 CRORE NANO UREA PLANT

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday laid the foundation stone of a `450-crore nano urea plant and township of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) in Jharkhand’s Deoghar. This will be India’s fifth nano urea plant. PM Modi inaugurated the world’s first nano urea plant in Gujarat last year, according to IFFCO. “Nano urea will benefit farmers and it is already being exported to five countries,” Shah said.

NEW ACTING CJs OF RAJASTHAN, PATNA AND MANIPUR HCs

z RAJASTHAN HC:

Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava

z PATNA HC: Chakradhari Sharan Singh

z MANIPUR HC: MV Muralidaran

Kiren Rijiju interacts with Justice Krishna Murari during 150 years of Allahabad HCBA at Prayagraj on Saturday.

Prayagraj: Hinting at the recent talks that the judiciary was at loggerheads with the government on the issue of collegium system, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday clarified that “there is no judiciary versus govt tussle in the country”. “The people who elect the government are supreme, and the entire system is being run as per the Constitution,” said Rijiju while speaking at 150th foundation day of Allahabad High Court Bar Association on Saturday.

SHOCKER IN THAR Will Adani’s `

Aditi Nagar

Chennai: The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and TN’s Drug Controller conducted a late-night raid on Chennaibased Global Pharma Healthcare on Friday after US authorities flagged a possible contamination in a line of eye drops.

“The Hemant Soren government is the most corrupt in the country. Resources are being looted using railway wagons and tractors. People will unseat this govt from power in the state,” he said. More on P5

BJP will win all the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the State in the elections next year.

—Amit Shah, Union Home Minister

New Delhi: The Adani group has suffered massive losses to the tune of 100 billion dollars after the recent Hindenburg report, effectively stalling the group's upward trajectory. But even as the battle rages on, to beat the 'propaganda' against the company, and the fight is being fought on technical terms in the report; the markets remain volatile towards Adani group and in such an environment, it now seems that after an 'international strike' on the group, now reins are being pulled for a home grown 'domestic strike'. In what could be termed as a shocking news from Delhi, word in 'select circles' in the politico-business realm of the nation is that there is an immense pressure to cancel Adani Group's MoU with Rajasthan government. In this regard, it is believed that probably a signal is coming from the Congress high command. Few days back, the Gehlot government had signed a MoU

ADANI ENTERPRISES SHELVES $122 MILLION BOND PLAN

Adani Enterprises Ltd. has shelved a plan to raise as much as Rs 10 billion ($122 million) via its first-ever public sale of bonds following a market rout, according to people familiar with the matter. The flagship firm of Gautam Adani’s empire had planned the public note issuance for January, working with Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd (EDEL.NS), AK Capital, JM Financial, and Trust Capital, but activity has now stopped, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

THE ADANI GROUP CRISIS WILL HAVE NO IMPACT ON ECONOMY’S IMAGE: FM

with Adani group worth `60,000 crore for Solar Project in Rajasthan.

During the program, Gautam Adani himself gave a speech in the presence of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to encourage investors coming from outside the State. Now there is a disturbance in the industrial

❍ CIVIC BODY PRESENTS RS52,619 CR BUDGET, 14.5% HIGHER THAN LAST YEAR; RS50,000 CR-MARK BREACHED FOR FIRST TIME

BMC to dip into its FDs to fund development works

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke here about “funds being locked in banks”, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Saturday said it would look towards some of its fixed deposits--cumulatively worth more than Rs88,000 crore--to fund development projects.

The country’s richest civic body on Saturday presented a Rs52,619.07 crore budget for the metropolis, with Adminis-

trator Iqbal Singh Chahal saying it was the “first time in BMC history that the budget estimates have crossed Rs50,000 crore”.

Chahal also said the civic body’s fixed deposits stood at Rs88,000 cr. As per the budget document, the BMC will withdraw Rs7,400 cr from its FDs for the coastal road project, as well as construction of GoregaonMulund link road and sewage treatment plants, Rs5,376 cr for other expenditure and Rs5,970 crore for “internal tem-

porary transfers”. The civic chief also said the BMC will also

use money from the Rs15,600 crore infrastructure fund that has

sector due to the possibility of cancellation of this MoU. However, this aspect can be discussed during Gehlot's visit to Delhi on Sunday.

According to the sources connected with the high command, there could possibly be a discussion at the level of Rahul Gandhi.

Court releases Sharjeel Imam and 10 others

—Iqbal Singh Chahal, BMC Commissioner

Big infrastructure projects cannot be accomplished by levying tax on the public. Ultimately, these FDs are made from public money. Hence, if we have to give the public concrete roads, coastal roads, STPs, etc., we will spend from that.

been created by levying a host of premiums. PM Modi, during his visit to Mumbai on January 19, when he inaugurated metro lines and laid foundations stones of projects worth Rs 38,000 crore, had spoken about the need for budgeted money to be spent on stated objectives.

Hinting at the breaking of civic FDs to speed up development works, Modi had said the future of the country’s financial capital would not be bright if development funds are used for corrupt practices or funds are locked up in banks and there was a tendency to stall projects.

New Delhi (ANI): A court here on Saturday discharged 11 people including student activists Sharjeel Imam and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who participated in antiCAA protests, in the 2019 Jamia Nagar case, saying they were made “scapegoats” by police & that dissent has to be encouraged, not stifled. Court said investigative agencies need to discern the difference between dissent, which has to be given space, and insurrection that should be quelled.

BMC Administrator IS Chahal addresses the media after the civic body's budget presentation on Saturday.

—PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

HM Amit Shah lays foundation stone of IFFCO’s fifth Nano Urea plant, in Deoghar on Saturday. Nishikant Dubey, Deepak Prakash & others are also seen here.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with his wife Sonal Shah offers prayers to Lord Bholenath, at the Baidyanath Dham, in Deoghar on Saturday. Also seen here are Nishikant Dubey and other priests.

60,000

cr solar project MoU in Rajasthan be cancelled?

Conspiracy to oust family from Congress, Satyajeet says

First India Bureau

Nashik: Newly elected Independent MLC from Nashik graduates’ constituency, Satyajeet Tambe on Saturday alleged that some state Congress leaders conspired to deny him a ticket. He said the wrong candidature forms were provided to his father, then-incumbent Congress MLC Sudhir Tambe, and it was all part of a conspiracy to drive his family out of the party.

“The AB forms we received on January 12 were not for the Nashik graduates’ constituency but Aurangabad teachers’ constituency and Nagpur teachers’ constituency,” he alleged.

Both forms were signed by the state Congress chief (Patole), he added.

Sharad Pawar had warned Uddhav’

First India Bureau

Pune: Could Uddhav Thackeray have prevented the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi last year? Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar has claimed that the former chief minister ignored warnings of an upcoming rebellion in his Shiv Sena for as long as six months.

“Pawar saheb (Nationalist Congress

BJP names candidates for by-elections to two Assembly seats in Pune

First India Bureau

Pune: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced the names of candidates for the upcoming bypolls to Kasba Peth and Chinchwad Assembly constituencies in Pune district.

While it nominated Hemant Rasane from Kasba Peth constituency in Pune city, it fielded Ashwini Jagtap from Chinchwad seat in neighbouring PimpriChinchwad township.

The byelections, scheduled to be held on February 26, were necessitated due to the recent death of sitting BJP MLAs - Mukta Tilak from Kasba Peth and Laxman Jagtap from Chinchwad. Ashwini Jagtap is the wife of late Laxman Jagtap.

RSS defamation case: Order on RaGa’s plea on March 04

Party president Sharad Pawar) himself had informed Thackeray. Pawar saheb had even phoned Thackeray and told him about it (possible rebellion in Shiv Sena). However, Uddhavji had said he trusts his MLAs and was confident they will not take such an extreme step,” Ajit Pawar, who was Thackeray’s deputy CM in the tripartite MVA government, told a local media house late on Friday evening.

“There was an attempt to break the trust of (Sena) MLAs. We can say some people remained unattentive,” he said without elaborating.

He did, however, add that he had heard murmurs six months before the actual re -

Rejected: Raj Thackeray’s discharge plea in 2008 case

After Rasane’s name was announced by the party, his followers and BJP workers burst firecrackers in the city.

Rasane also performed ‘aarti’ at the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati temple.

Talking to reporters, Rasane said, “Senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tried hard for unopposed elections to these seats, but other parties do not appear to be keen. But I assure you that the BJP will win with a record margin.”

Fadnavis tweeted:

“Wishing all the success to candidates declared by BJP for the bypolls; Hemant Rasane (Kasba Peth Assembly Constituency) and Ashwini tai Jagtap (Chinchwad Assembly Constituency).”

Sangli (PTI): A local court in Sangli district on Friday rejected Maharashtra Navnirman

Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s plea seeking discharge in a 2008 case related to a protest organized by his party workers. MNS workers had staged protest in Shirala in the district against Thackeray’s arrest in Mumbai, and a case was registered over unlawful assembly and breach of peace. The FIR named Thackeray and nine others. Assistant public prosecutor Ranjit Patil opposed the discharge plea and stated that it can not be decided till all the witnesses are deposed. The court upheld his argument, Patil said in a statement here.

MNS had staged a state-wide agitation demanding preference for Marathi youth in railway jobs and Thackeray had been arrested over the issue.

Results of MLC polls will put brakes on false Fadnavis-Shinde government, says editorial in Uddhav-Sena mouthpiece

First India Bureau

Mumbai: In a scathing attack on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government for its drubbing in recently held MLC polls in the state, ‘Saamana’, the official

newspaper of the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction said that the educated people have rejected the ruling alliance of BJP and the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena.

Saamana in its latest editorial said, “The result of the election of the five Legislative Council seats of the state is the mandate of the people of Maharashtra. BJP got only one seat out of five. The BJP-Shinde alliance was defeated.

These results will put a brake on the falsity of the Fadnavis-Shin -

Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray are seen in conversation. —FILE PHOTO

bellion in June 2022.

“I had warned Uddhavji about it. Uddhavji said he had also heard the same and told me he would speak to Eknath Shinde. He (Thackeray) had said it was an internal party issue and that he would resolve

it,” claimed Ajit Pawar, whose party was one of the constituents of the MVA along with the Congress and the Shiv Sena.

A section of MLAs of the undivided Shiv Sena, led by then-Cabinet minister Eknath Shinde, had rebelled

NO URGENCY

de government.”

The party said that the BJP-Shinde alliance was rejected by educated people of the state as only they exercised their vote in the recently concluded Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections on five seats.

The results brought cheers to the tripartite alliance of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) as they won three of five seats and an upset time for the ruling alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party- Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena led by Chief

First India Bureau

Pune: Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar said that the reason for the discord between him and then Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was that the latter had no experience of the state’s politics.

Pawar was deputy chief minister when Chavan headed the Congress-NCP alliance government between 2010 and 2014. Asked about the talk of discord between him and Chavan during an interview at an event organized recently, Pawar said Chavan had never worked even as an MLA in the state as he was mostly based in Delhi.

“Prithviraj Chavan had never worked as an

MLA here. He was not aware of what kind of treatment we had received from people in power. He had no experience of the state cabinet,” the NCP leader said.

“He had been working in the PMO and there is a difference between the state politics and politics in Delhi,” Pawar added. Chavan, who was a minister in the Manmohan Singh government, became chief minister after Ashok Chavan resigned over the Adarsh scam allegations.

Even though the NCP and Congress were allies, certain issues cropped up and as a result “some people” felt proximity to political rivals while the NCP appeared as “remote” to them, Pawar added.

GLOATING

against Thackeray’s leadership in June last year, leading to the collapse of the MVA coalition government. The rebel MLAs then teamed up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government under Shinde’s leadership.

I had warned Uddhavji about it. Uddhavji said he had also heard the same and told me he would speak to Eknath Shinde. He (Thackeray) had said it was an internal party issue and that he would resolve it.

Thane (PTI): A Bhiwandi court that is hearing a case of alleged defamation filed by Rajesh Kunte, a local worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, against Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said it would pass order on the Congress leader’s plea seeking permanent exemption from appearance on March 04. Gandhi has sought exemption on the grounds that he is a resident of Delhi and a Lok Sabha member, and that the trial can proceed in his absence as he would be represented by his lawyer. Kunte in 2014 filed the case against Rahul Gandhi over the latter’s speech at an election campaign rally in Bhiwandi on March 06, 2014, where he allegedly said, “the RSS people had killed (Mahatma) Gandhi”.

Will file police complaint against BMC’s public utility, its contract firms: Somaiya

First India Bureau Mumbai: Continuing his attack on Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya said that he will lodge a formal police complaint against Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) public utility, and also against private firms and contractors associated with the civic body.

Kirit Somaiya in a tweet on Saturday said, “COVID ki Kamai. Today 3:30 pm I along with 100 Workers/Drivers will file a complaint at Colaba Police Station against BEST, Kish Corporate Services of Kishori Pednekar and MP Enterprises for cheating fraud Forgery and robbing employees of salaries, provident fund.” Somaiya earlier on Wednesday announced that he will expose “one more scam of the civic body”.

“COVID ki KAMAI”

Exposing One more

RENEWED ATTACK ON EX-MIN PARAB

BJP state Vice-President Kirit Somaiya shared a Central government order seeking Rs2.5 crore environmental compensation from Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab in the Sai Resort scam. The order dated January 12, was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Coastal Regulation Zone) in which it notified the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board to realize environmental compensation from the resort situated in Ratnagiri. The order notified Parab to pay the environmental compensation within 15 days of the issue of that order, i.e. January 12. Somaiya shared the order stating, “The government started the attachment process of Anil Parab properties to recover Rs2.5 crore penalties for illegal construction of Sai Resort.”

scam of BMC. 2.30 pm today, I will be meeting Labour Minister Suresh Khade at Mantralaya Mumbai to submit a detailed complaint,” the BJP leader said in a tweet.

Last month also Somaiya alleged corrup-

UBT CAMP SAYS

tion on part of BMC in procuring Remdisivir injections during the Covid-19 pandemic. But, the Maharashtra Lokayukta exculpated the BMC of any “irregularity” or “non-transparency” in a complaint filed by the BJP leader.

islative council constituency.

Reacting to this, the Uddhav Thackeray camp in its mouthpiece said that the credit belongs to the winning candidate Mhatre more than BJP as the party got a ‘readymade’ candidate.

Minister Eknath Shinde, who were facing their first polls after joining hands in June

last year. The results are also seen as a setback for the BJP-Shinde gov -

ernment as they bagged only the Konkan seat. BJP candidate Dnyaneshwar

Mhatre trounced MVAbacked nominee Balaram Patil from the Konkan teachers’ leg -

“Dnyaneshwar Mhatre from Kokan constituency (Teacher) defeated sitting MLC Balaram Patil. In this, Mhatre deserves more praise than BJP as he is not a native BJP man. They got a ‘readymade’ candidate and luckily they won,” it said.

CM Eknath Shinde (right) and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis attend a meeting. —FILE PHOTO

‘Chavan did not have experience, hadn’t served as MLA here’

‘Educated people rejected Fadnavis-Shinde in Maharashtra’

‘

Heard murmurs 6 months before actual revolt, but Thackeray was ‘confident’ MLAs would not take any extreme step: Ajit Pawar

—Ajit Pawar, NCP leader

Kirit Somaiya —FILE PHOTO

Ajit Pawar —FILE PHOTO

Mirch Masala

FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL

BY TRIDIB RAMAN

TEJASHWI ON SAFFRON TARGET VIA CENTRAL AGENCIES!

Speculation has intensified regarding the re-merger of the Janata Parivar, wherein the Janata Dal (U), RJD, JD(S), INLD and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the leaders of the opposition unit, get together to form the old Janata Dal or some coordination can be established between them. When the saffron camp came to know about this, its emissaries became active, its strategists contacted Tejashwi and told him that ‘if he only leaves Nitish’s side, BJP is ready to make him the Chief Minister of the state.’ A clear formula was worked out that RJD, being the largest party, should submit claim to the Governor to form Tejashwi’s gov ernment. When the time comes to prove ma-

jority in the house, BJP will walk out, as it once did when Mulayam’s government was in UP. But sources tell that Tejashwi flatly refused to get trapped in this saffron trap. After this, Nitish’s statement also came to the fore that ‘he will not go with BJP till death.’ Nitish also made it clear to Tejashwi that ‘he will leave the Chief Minister’s chair for Tejashwi in July-August and will become active in central politics’. Now it is possible that the central agencies may file several serious cases against Tejashwi in the month of May-June. It is said that these cases are related to the time when Tejashwi Yadav became the deputy CM of the state for the first time. The BJP hopes that Nitish will hardly be able to support Tejashwi on the matter of corruption, and thereafter, the only option before Tejashwi would be court.

LOK SABHA ELECTIONS 2024: BJP ‘JUGGLING’ TO HELP OBC CASTES

The latest Union Budget has tried its best to cater to the non-Yadav OBC castes, considering that this current Union Budget will prove to be the last full-time budget before the 2024 general elections. In a way, this is a completely election budget, in which provision has been made for an additional budget of Rs 2 lakh crore for the free ration scheme for the poor. If the claims of reliable sources associated with the central government are to be believed, then the present government may announce the general elections ahead of time in order to implement the ‘One Nation, One Election’ programme. These elections can be held along with the possible assembly elections of nine States. Keeping this idea in mind, ‘Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman Yojana’ has been launched in the budget and it is believed that this scheme is going to benefit the non-Yadav OBC castes across the country, especially in UP. In UP alone there are more than 52% OBC castes, even if Yadavs are excluded from this, then this figure remains at 42%, which is a group of more than 140 castes and this group plays an important role in defeating or winning a candidate in elections. In the 2014 general elections also, the OBC castes played the most important role in forming the BJP government.

WILL ILTIJA MUFTI ENTER POLITICS?

Iltija Mufti, the elder daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, is said to be all set to enter politics. In recent times she has been seen walking in step with Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Fluent in Hindi, English and Urdu languages, Iltija did her schooling from a boarding school in Shimla, then graduated from Delhi University and went to London’s Warwick University for her post graduation. After returning from there, she worked in a think tank in Delhi, then started working for ‘Gulf News’. After the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, Iltija started making her video blog regularly — ‘Aapki Baat with Iltija.’ Even when asked, she says — ‘No, I don’t want to do politics,’ but no tell for sure what her future plans really are.

Insurer told to pay out `30 lakh claim for building slab collapse

Consumer Disputes Commission also ordered payment of `50,000 towards the loss of esteem and costs of litigation

First India Bureau

Thane: The Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission here has ordered SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd to pay a complainant Rs30 lakh for damages to his flat due to slab collapse within 45 days, or pay an additional 9% per annum until realization.

Deepak Golikar told the commission that he had bought a flat in Navi Mumbai and availed a loan of Rs45.68 lakh from

BJP TO RAISE UCC, POPULATION CONTROL ISSUES

SBI in August 2019. At the time, the insurer had approached him with a housing policy, for Rs30 lakh from August 2019 to August 2029.

On December 01, 2020, a slab collapsed in the building, damaging his flat and causing him to move into rental accommodation. Following the accident, the complainant filed for the claim, which was rejected by the insurance company. The commission observed that the surveyor report had stated that

NO TAKE-BACKS

Tube seized from accused has blood on it

First India Bureau Mumbai: Police have found a new piece to the puzzle of 22-year-old MBBS student Sadichha Sane’s murder, officials said on Saturday.

Navy divers and the Mumbai police conducted a joint search for Sane’s body in the sea late last month. —FILE PHOTO

This question is being raised again and again in the corridors of power in Delhi that after the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya — to be completed by the year end — what will be the next agenda for the BJP? An ideologue associated with the Sangh says that neither the Sangh nor the BJP lacks issues. Now ‘Uniform Civil Code’ and ‘Population Control Bill’ are to come, whose threat can be heard anytime after 2024.

However, in a written reply in Parliament, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had said the government had requested the 21st Law Commission to undertake an examination of various issues relating to uniform civil code and to make recommendations. “The term of the 21st Law Commission ended on August 31, 2018. As per the information received from the Law Commission, the matter related to uniform civil code may be taken up by the 22nd Law Commission for its consideration,” he had said. The implementation of a uniform civil code was a poll promise made by the ruling BJP in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

K’TAKA POLLS: JD(S) KINGMAKER FOR BJP OR CONGRESS?

What the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka mean for the BJP is known from the Union Budget presented in the Parliament on Wednesday as the irrigation scheme worth Rs 65,000 crore was announced for Karnataka. In any case, the recent opinion polls conducted by the party in Karnataka have raised eyebrows in the BJP leadership. So, to ensure its victory in the upcoming State Assembly elections, party strategists want to forge an electoral alliance with JD(S), a major party in the state. In this regard, when BJP strategists approached HD Deve Gowda, he bluntly said that ‘he can think of post-poll alliance with BJP.’ But the biggest problem before BJP strategists is that

Deve Gowda is more or less saying the same thing to Congress. Deve Gowda has an old friendship with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. So, even though Deve Gowda did not go to Kashmir at the conclusion of Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, he did issue a letter in support of Rahul, much to the dismay of the saffron strategists.

So, these people have recently approached Kumaraswamy, son of Deve Gowda, who is said to be more inclined towards BJP than Congress. So, while father Deve Gowda was issuing letters in support of Rahul, son Kumaraswamy was voicing his mind on a local TV channel that ‘the country does not like Rahul Gandhi’.

Cops have found blood stains on a floating tube seized from the home of lifeguard Mittu Singh, the prime accused in the case, is lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail since his arrest last month.

Officials say that Sane, who went missing in November 2021, died after falling on the rocks at Bandra Bandstand during a tussle with Singh, who then took a floating tube and

dragged her body into the sea before returning. Singh has previously told the police that she

died after he ended up “pushing her during a scuffle” and suffered injuries to her head.

Police suspect that the

COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS

Blood stains will be matched with that of Sane’s kin for identification as part of the investigation

blood found on the tube came from Sane’s head wound.

The blood stains will be matched with that of Sane’s kin for identification and other details as part of the investigation, the official added.

Mumbai police and Navy team had conducted a search earlier in the sea along Bandra Bandstand to locate Sane’s body but in vain.

the slab collapse had taken place due to use of inferior quality building material. Whenever insurance is taken on any property, the bank and insurance company carefully verify all documents to ascertain the life of the structure, it noted. Considering the evidence, there was no ground to repudiate the insurance claim, it said in the order passed on January 20, and made available on Friday, the commission also ordered payment of Rs 50,000 towards the loss of esteem and costs of litigation to the complainant.

‘Pay local tax, get bonus `10L accident insurance’

Latur (PTI): In a bid to increase revenue, the authorities of a village in Latur district have decided to provide accident insurance coverage of Rs10 lakh to those villagers who completely pay off the tax charged by the local panchayat.

This novel decision was taken during a gram sabha meeting held at Panchincholi village located in Nilanga tehsil on Friday.

The highly anticipated Kala Ghoda Arts Festival began in Mumbai on Saturday, under the theme Past <> Forward, after a gap of two years due to the pandemic. It will run till February 12.

—PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

Panchincholi sarpanch Geetanjali Hanumante presided over the meeting, where her predecessor Shrikant Salunkhe proposed a resolution that personal accident insurance cover of Rs10 lakh will be provided to the villagers on 100% payment of the panchayat tax. His resolution was welcomed by all members and passed unanimously.

“The population of Panchincholi village is 5,947 and there are around 930 tax payers. This decision was taken to motivate the villagers towards paying their taxes,” Salunkhe said. Some other resolutions aimed at the development of the village were also passed during the meeting, he said.

350 ‘original’ stones found, tagged for rebuild

fort and the structure may have collapsed due to a landslide at the time, conservation architect Varun Bhamare said.

Aurangabad (PTI):

About 350 stones that fell possibly due to landslide from the ‘Nane Darwaja’ of the historic Raigad Fort have been retrieved and will be used to rebuild the structure based on architectural points from the time, an expert involved in the work said

on Saturday.

Situated in the Sahyadri mountain range, Raigad Fort, some 370km from here, was made the capital of the Maratha Empire in 1674 on the

coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

As per the book “Shrimad Raigirau” by Gopal Chandorkar, the Nane Darwaja was an octroi collection point at the

“We searched for the arch and bracket stones that fell from the structure in the valley below and managed to retrieve around 350 of them. These have been numbered by us after identifying their position in the original structure. Work to fix them accordingly to recreate the structure has begun,” Bhamare said.

A channel cut into the

stene to ensure water flowing downhill did not harm Nane Darwaja has also been found and the mud and sludge covering it has been cleared so it can drain water as originally intended, he added.

The aerial mapping of Raigad Fort is also complete and some 350 sites that existed during the reign of the legendary warrior-king have been identified, Bhamare said. All these works to restore Nane Darwaja have been undertaken by the Raigad Development Authority, he added.

Raigad Fort was made the capital of the Maratha Empire in 1674.

The structure, believed to have collapsed in the 17th century, is set to be reconstructed

RAIGAD FORT’S NANE DARWAJA

SADHICHHA SANE MURDER

The author is a journalist and political commentator and views expressed are his personal

LIMITS TO COMPUTING: A COMPUTER SCIENTIST EXPLAINS...

WHY EVEN IN THE AGE OF AI, SOME PROBLEMS ARE JUST TOO DIFFICULT

Empowered by artificial intelligence technologies, computers today can engage in convincing conversations with people, compose songs, paint paintings, play chess and go, and diagnose diseases, to name just a few examples of their technological prowess. These successes could be taken to indicate that computation has no limits. To see if that’s the case, it’s important to understand what makes a computer powerful.

There are two aspects to a computer’s power: the number of operations its hardware can execute per second and the efficiency of the algorithms it runs. The hardware speed is limited by the laws of physics. Algorithms – basically sets of instructions – are written by humans and translated into a sequence of operations that computer hardware can execute. Even if a computer’s speed could reach the physical limit, computational hurdles remain due to the limits of algorithms.

These hurdles include problems that are impossible for computers to solve and problems that are theoretically solvable but in practice are beyond the capabilities of even the most powerful versions of today’s computers imaginable. Mathematicians and computer scientists attempt to determine whether a problem is solvable by trying them out on an imaginary machine.

AN IMAGINARY COMPUTING MACHINE

Can a full-fledged quantum computer be built to factor integers and solve other problems? Some scientists believe it can be. Several groups of scientists around the world are working to build one, and some have already built small-scale quantum computers.

Nevertheless, like all novel technologies invented before, issues with quantum computation are almost certain to arise that would impose new limits

IN-DEPTH TO DISCIPLINE A STUDENT, USE OF FORCE MAY BE REQUIRED

Spare the rod and spoil the child was an accepted adage until corporal punishment came to be considered an offence. Sometimes teachers used excess and unjustifiable force which physically harmed students and even left a few physically challenged. Worried parents sought legal help to stop corporal punishment of their children in schools but courts have only defended “use of reasonable degree of force” to discipline a child.

The Goa High Court is the latest to rule that a teacher can use force in school to correct a child so long as it is done without any mala fide intention. The court overturned the conviction of a primary school teacher for beating a student for drinking water of another student after finishing her own.

Empowered by artificial intelligence technologies, computers today can engage in convincing conversations with people, compose songs, paint paintings, play chess and go, and diagnose diseases, to name just a few examples of their technological prowess

The modern notion of an algorithm, known as a Turing machine, was formulated in 1936 by British mathematician Alan Turing. It’s an imaginary device that imitates how arithmetic calculations are carried out with a pencil on paper. The Turing machine is the template all computers today are based on.

To accommodate computations that would need more paper if done manually, the supply of imaginary paper in a Turing machine is assumed to be unlimited. This is equivalent to an imaginary limitless ribbon, or “tape,” of squares, each of which is either blank or contains one symbol.

NOT EVERY PROBLEM CAN BE SOLVED

Many problems are solvable using a Turing machine and therefore can be solved on a computer, while many others are not. For example, the domino problem, a variation

USING A BALLOON TO SPY OVER US

of the tiling problem formulated by Chinese American mathematician Hao Wang in 1961, is not solvable.

The task is to use a set of dominoes to cover an entire grid and, following the rules of most dominoes games, matching the number of pips on the ends of abutting dominoes. It turns out that there is no algorithm that can start with a set of dominoes and determine whether or not the set will completely cover the grid.

KEEPING PROBLEMS REASONABLE

A number of solvable problems can be solved by algorithms that halt in a reasonable amount of time. These “polynomial-time algorithms” are efficient algorithms, meaning it’s practical to use computers to solve instances of them.

Thousands of other solvable problems are not known to have polynomial-time algorithms, despite ongoing

intensive efforts to find such algorithms. These include the Traveling Salesman Problem.

The Traveling Salesman Problem asks whether a set of points with some points directly connected, called a graph, has a path that starts from any point and goes through every other point exactly once, and comes back to the original point. Imagine that a salesman wants to find a route that passes all households in a neighborhood exactly once and returns to the starting point.

THE COST OF KNOWING EXACTLY

The best-known algorithms for NP-complete problems are essentially searching for a solution from all possible answers. Traveling Salesman Problem on a graph of a few hundred points would take years to run on a supercomputer. Such algorithms are inefficient, meaning there are no math shortcuts.

Practical algorithms that address these problems in the real world can only offer approximations, though the approximations are improving. Whether there are efficient polynomial-time algorithms that can solve NPcomplete problems is among the seven millennium open problems posted by the Clay Mathematics Institute at the turn of 21st century, each carrying a prize of US$1 mn.

NEW COMPUTATION FORM BEYOND TURING

Could there be a new form of computation beyond Turing’s framework? In 1982, American physicist Richard Feynman, a Nobel laureate, put forward the idea of computation based on quantum mechanics.

In 1995, Peter Shor, an American applied mathematician, presented a quantum algorithm to factor integers in polynomial time. Mathematicians believe that this is unsolvable by polynomialtime algorithms in Turing’s framework. Factoring an integer means finding a smaller integer greater than 1 that can divide the integer. For example, the integer 688,826,081 is divisible by a smaller integer 25,253, because 688,826,081 = 25,253 x 27,277.

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION

Exposing teachers to criminal prosecution for corporal punishment is definitely not a good idea for maintaining discipline in schools. That, however, does not allow short-tempered teachers to cross the line of reasonable degree to deal with errant pupils.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

This one is for all those times you made an excuse for not accomplishing your goals.

Bhagavad Gita

TOP TWEETS

A

n innocuous-looking balloon hovering at a height of about 60,000 feet over American missile fields in Montana has led to a diplomatic row between the US and China. It has led to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to abruptly call off his visit to Beijing. The high-level meeting was to take place after several years in an attempt to mend ties between the two countries. China reluctantly acknowledged that it was its balloon which had strayed into American airspace but said it was meant for monitoring weather and offered regret. American officials, including those from the Pentagon, insisted that it was meant for surveillance and

An innocuous-looking balloon hovering at a height of about 60,000 ft over American missile fields in Montana has led to a diplomatic row between the US and China. It has led to US Secy of State Antony Blinken to abruptly call off his visit to Beijing

was equipped with the necessary equipment for the purpose. Blinken described the intrusion as “a violation of our sovereignty” and called it an “unacceptable as well as an irresponsible action”.

The spy balloon marks a new low in the ties between

China and the US. It also raises the question about a balloon’s use for spying when China, like several other countries, has advanced satellites to monitor activities in other countries. Use of balloons for surveillance is as old as World War-II. The Japanese used balloons to drop incendiary bombs over US targets. The Americans and Russians also used it during Cold War days. The problem with the Chinese balloon is that Americans are hesitant to shoot it down for fear of falling debris causing injuries to people. The Chinese incursion is being interpreted as a message about the extent Beijing is ready to go to show its strength. Talks, meanwhile, might take place at a later date.

with Dr Murugan_MoS, Sh @TThenarasu, Sh TR Baalu & Dr @KanimozhiDMK.

The new facility aligns with our “whole of aviation” approach to provide a time-saving, seamless travel experience to passengers.

OPPN RUNNING AWAY FROM DISCUSSION: ANURAG THAKUR

India’s largest helicopter facility to open in K’taka

Jammu

(PTI):

Union minister Anurag Singh

Thakur on Saturday said the government has nothing to hide on the Adani issue and accused opposition parties of creating a ruckus in Parliament to evade a debate on the “peoplefriendly” budget.

He alleged that they had insulted President Droupadi Murmu by stalling a discussion on the motion of thanks to the president’s address and demanded that they apologise to her.

“We want discussion on President’s address and 2023-24 budget which will guide India from ‘Amrit Kaal to Swarnim Kaal’ and will lay the foundation of New India but the Opposition is running away from discussion,” Thakur told media here.

Parliament was adjourned for the second consecutive day on Fri-

day without transacting any business after the Opposition stepped up demand for independent investigation into the allegations of fraud against Gautam Adani’s companies that triggered an unprecedented stock crash.

Responding to query on Opposition’s demand, Thakur said, “The banks, LIC and RBI have already made their statements clear, while the govt has nothing to hide.” “The role of the Opposition is very unfortunate. Their response to the speech of the president is condemnable as they repeatedly humiliated her. They should immediately apologise to her,” he said.

Thakur said the Opposition was rendered speechless by the “people-friendly” budget and instead of having a discussion on it, they are creating a ruckus.

SOUTH CENTRAL RLY GETS `13,786 CR IN UNION BUDGET

Hyderabad (PTI): South Central Railway on Friday said it was sanctioned a sum of Rs. 13,786.19 crore for year 2023-24 compared to Rs. 8,349.75 crore for year 2022-23, nearly 65 per cent increase over last year's allocation in the Union Budget. A press release from the SCR said Rs 3,374.44 crore was allotted for doubling, third line and bypass line works compared to Rs 1,531 crore last year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate facility on Monday

New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday inaugurate a greenfield helicopter production facility of state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Karnataka’s Tumakuru that will initially produce light utility helicopters (LUHs).

MARTIN TO DISPLAY F-21 JET, OTHER PLATFORMS AT AERO-INDIA 2023

Kolkata (PTI): Union Minister Smriti

Irani on Saturday slammed the Congress for disrupting the proceedings in Parliament demanding an independent investigation into the allegations of fraud against billionaire Gautam Adani’s companies that triggered an unprecedented stock crash. She alleged it is a reflection of the animosity the party has towards President Droupadi Murmmu from the day she took office.

SHAH ON UNION BUDGET 2023-24

Adequate funds for over 2 lakh agri societies: HM

No panchayat will lack milk dairy, fisheries society in next 5 years: HM

Deoghar (ANI): Union Home Affairs Minister and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that with the recently released Union Budget 2023-24, the Centre has made provisions and allocated adequete fund for the registration of over 2 lakh multi-dimensional Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).

He said that the PACS have been created to ensure that there remains no ‘panchayat’ which would lack a dairy or a fishery cooperative society. “To promote cooperation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced several schemes in the recently released Union Budget 2023-24.. The previous tax of 26 per cent which was used to be levied on cooperation in the field of production, has now

To promote cooperation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced several schemes in the recently released Union Budget 2023-24.

been lowered to 15 per cent. We have also constituted a Ministry of Cooperation to check which all panchayats lack milk and fisheries society,” Shah said.

Amit Shah was addressing a function after laying the foundation stone of a nano urea plant of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) in

SMRITI SLAMS CONG FOR DISRUPTING PARL HOUSES BUDGET 2023 TO PROVIDE JOBS TO YOUTH: MoS

—Amit Shah, Union Home Affairs Minister and Cooperation Minister

Jharkhand’s Deoghar, and said, “After the formation of the Ministry of Cooperation, we set up a data bank for Cooperatives across the country to identify which Panchayats do not have PACs, dairy, or, a Fishery cooperative society. Hence, after five years, there will be no panchayat that does not have a PACS.”

RAI

New Delhi (ANI): Minister of State

(Home) Nityanand Rai on Saturday said that Union Budget 2023-24 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will provide job opportunities to youths in the country with the resolution of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’. MoS Home Nityanand Rai addressed a press conference in Agra on Budget and said that this budget outlines the development of all sections of the society.

ED grills Rahul Gandhi’s aide in PMLA case

New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has questioned and recorded the statement of Alankar Sawai, a close aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case in which TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale was recently arrested by the agency in Gujarat, the Enforcement Directorate officials said. Sawai was questioned and also confronted with Gokhale in Ahmedabad over three days earlier this week, they said.

The defence ministry billed the 615-acre factory as India’s largest helicopter-manufacturing facility and it has been planned as a onestop solution for the country’s chopper requirements.

Officials said the HAL plans to produce more than 1,000 helicopters in the range of three to 15 tonnes, with a total business of more than Rs 4 lakh crore over a period of 20 years.

fighter jet, S-92 multi-role helicopter, MH-60R Romeo multi-mission chopper and antitank weapon Javelin, among others, at the upcoming Aero-India exhibition in Bengaluru. The 14th edition of Aero-India will be held at Bengaluru in Karnataka from February 13 to 17. Almost all leading aerospace companies around the world are expected to attend the event at Air Force Station, Yelahanka.

PM

MODI PRAISES BILL GATES FOR TRYING HIS HANDS TO

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Saturday lauded Billionaire Bill Gates for trying his hands to make roti. The PM advised him to make millet dishes as well. Gates posted a video on Instagram where he was seen making a roti along with popular blogger Eitan Bernath. Sharing the video on his Instagram story, PM Modi said, “Superb!” He also said that the latest trend in India is millets, which are known to be healthy. “There are many millet dishes too which you can try making,” Modi said.

Congress welcome to take whatever decision it wants, says MP Preneet Kaur

Chandigarh (PTI): Suspended for her alleged anti-party activities, Congress’ Patiala MP Preneet Kaur Saturday said the party is welcome to take whatever decision it wants but asserted she always gave her best to the party.

The Congress on Friday suspended her and also asked her to explain why she should not be expelled for “anti-party activities”.

Kaur is the wife of former chief minister Amarinder Singh, who joined the BJP after leaving the Congress.

“The Congress is welcome to take whatever decision it wants. I have always given my best to the party and to the people who have repeatedly elected me. I owe it to

them and will continue to serve them, as always. I derive my strength from my people. Everything else is secondary,” Kaur said on Twitter on Saturday.

Meanwhile, PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring accused Preneet of weakening the Congress in Patiala, and said she should leave the party on her own. “It would have been better if Preneet Kaur ji quit the party on her own. She left no stone unturned in weakening the Congress in Patiala,” claimed Warring. The Congress’ disciplinary panel secretary Tariq Anwar had said the action against Kaur follows complaints against her from the PPCC chief Warring.

Congress

announces first list of 21 candidates for Nagaland polls

New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday released its first list of 21 candidates for the Nagaland assembly polls, fielding its state unit chief K Therie from Dimapur-I. The list was released after a meeting of the Central Election Committee, headed by party chief Mallikarjun

WETLANDS CONSERVATION

Kharge.

“The Central Election Committee of the Congress has selected the candidates for the

ensuing elections to the Legislative assembly of Nagaland,” an official statement said.

Among the other candidates in the party’s first list are S Amento Chisti from Dimapur II (ST), V Lasuh from Dimapur III (ST), Akavi Zhimomi from Ghaspani-I and Rosy Thomas from Tenning (ST).

Bhupender Yadav launches ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’

Union Minister highlights role played by wetland ecosystem in securing the ecological, economic & climate security

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Saturday launched the ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’ in the presence of Gopa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. This campaign is structured on a “whole of society” approach for wetlands conservation, enabling affirmative actions for wetlands conservation at all levels of the soci-

ety and involving all strata of the society.

This campaign over next one year will include sensitizing people of the value of wetlands, increasing the coverage of wetland mitras and building citizen partnerships for wetlands conservation.

Two publications were also released during the occasion, ‘India’s 75 Amrit Dharohar- India’s Ramsar Sites Factbook’ and ‘ Manag-

ing Climate Risks in Wetlands — A Practitioner’s Guide. The factbook is a one-stop resource of information on our 75 Ramsar Sites, including their values, threats they face and

management arrangements. The practitioner’s Guide on Climate Risk Assessment provides step-wise guidance on assessing the site-level climate risks and integration of adap-

tation and mitigation responses into the wetland management plan.

Yadav interacted with wetlands managers of states and heard their experiences about achievements and challenges. In his address, the Union Minister highlighted the critical role played by the wetland ecosystem in securing the ecological, economic and climate security. He also mentioned about various green initiatives taken by the Government in the budget 2023 under the leadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi

including Amrit Dharohar, MISHTI, PM PRANAM, Green credit and Green Growth aligned with Mission LiFE. Yadav also highlighted the achievements of the country in last about 9 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which country has not only developed economically but also with ecological balance. The Minister also emphasised on the importance of strengthening communication, education, awareness and participation for conservation of the wetlands.

PATENT INFRINGEMENT: FIRM TO PAY `2 CR AS DAMAGES FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed a firm to pay Rs 2 crore as damages to pharma giant Pfizer Inc for committing “wilful” and “contumacious” contempt of court by disobeying its order. The court said if the director of the firm, Triveni Interchem Pvt Ltd, fails to pay the amount in two weeks, he shall be taken into custody and detained in a civil prison for two weeks at Tihar jail here. The court, in an interim order, had restrained the firm from making, selling, distributing, advertising, exporting or importing or dealing with any product having compound ‘Palbociclib’ or any pharmaceutically acceptable salt as it would infringe the patent of plaintiff Pfizer.

CHARGESHEET FILED AGAINST EX-ANDAMAN CHIEF SECY, 3 OTHERS IN GANGRAPE CASE

New Delhi: The special investigation team probing a gangrape case against former Andaman and Nicobar Islands chief secretary Jitendra Narain, has filed a 935-page chargesheet against him and three other accused. The team examined around 90 witnesses and scientific, electronic, technical and biological evidence, which will be crucial in the case. Narain and former labour commissioner Rishi Raj are the prime accused in the gangrape of a 21-year-old woman. The SIT has filed the chargesheet under 10 sections of the Indian Penal Code, including gangrape, criminal conspiracy, criminal defamation among others against four accused, including Narain. The investigation is still on.

JAMIA NAGAR VIOLENCE: 11 DISCHARGED, COURT SAYS BOOKED AS ‘SCAPEGOATS’

New Delhi: A local court on Saturday discharged 11 people, including student activists Sharjeel Imam and Asif Iqbal Tanha, in the Jamia Nagar violence case, saying as the Delhi Police was unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators, it booked the accused as “scapegoats”. The court, however, ordered framing of charges against one accused, Mohd Ilyas. “Marshalling the facts as brought forth from a perusal of the chargesheet and three supplementary chargesheets, this court cannot but arrive at the conclusion that the police were unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators behind the commission of the offence, but surely managed to rope the persons herein as scapegoats,” the court said.

Amit Shah with Jharkhand BJP chief Deepak Prakash, MP Nishikant Dubey and others at Vijay Sankalp Maharally, in Deoghar on Saturday.

MAKE ROTI

New Delhi: US defence major Lockheed Martin will showcase its F-21

Patiala MP Preneet Kaur comes out of Parliament on Friday.

Anurag Thakur with J&K Lt Guv Manoj Sinha in Jammu.

CRUCIAL READ

JAWAN INJURED IN LANDMINE EXPLOSION IN J&K

CHHATTISGARH: MAN KILLED IN TIGER ATTACK

US and India are ‘trusted partners’: Indian Envoy

Indian Ambassador to US says this trust is seen in the iCET initiative

Washington (ANI):

Top priority areas discussed in G20 Employment meet

New Delhi (Agencies):

Jammu: An army soldier was injured on Saturday in a landmine explosion along the LoC in J&K’s Poonch. Officials said that the explosion took place in Kerni sector of Poonch on Saturday.

“The explosion apparently occurred accidentally around 11.15 a.m., today. The injured soldier was airlifted to the command hospital in Udhampur,” they said.

Korba: A 37-year-old man was killed in an attack by a tiger in Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district of Chhattisgarh, forest officials said on Saturday. The incident took place at Kachod village under Kolhari circle of Manendragarh Forest Division on Friday evening. The deceased, identified as Budhram Agariya, was a local resident.

FORMER JD(U) LEADER’S HUSBAND ARRESTED UNDER POCSO ACT

Patna: The Jehanabad Police in Bihar arrested a man, absconding for the last eight months, under POCSO Act on Saturday. The accused, identified as Sanjay Kumar Verma, is husband of Manju Kumari Verma, former JD-U district president. Poonam Chaudhary, the SHO of woman police station, confirmed the development. She said that an FIR was registered in August last year where Sanjay Kumar Verma was co-accused. He was facing the charge of shielding the main accused Sunil Kumar and Bittu Kumar, the police said.

MAN CARRYING BULLETS HELD AT KOLKATA AIRPORT

Kolkata: A man was arrested at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata for carrying four bullets in his hand baggage. The arrest took place late Friday night during routine checking while the man, identified as Mohammad Ghalib, was attempting to board a Bengaluru-bound Air Asia flight, sources said on Saturday.

ACQUITTED IN GANG RAPE CASE, MAN HELD FOR MURDER

New Delhi: A man, who was acquitted in the 2012 Chhawla gang-rape and murder case, was arrested along with his associate for allegedly killing an auto-rickshaw driver in Dwarka. The accused Vinod and his associate Pawan were arrested for stabbing one Anar Singh (44) to death in Dwarka’s Sector-13 area early on January 26, police said.

The United States and India are looking at each other as trusted partners and their trust is seen in the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), Indian Ambassador to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu said.

Sandhu said, “US and India are looking at each other as trusted partners & that trust is being reflected in the iCET. The iCET is a historic beginning that provides a platform for both sides to move ahead together in the field of technology." He also said the relationship between US and India strengthened after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to the US in 2014 and after President Joe Biden came into power, the interaction between the two countries and areas of discussion widened.

“One of the pillars of the India-US relationship has been technology which includes innovation & startup culture. All that comes together through the initiative on iCET and iCET takes it much further ahead,” he said.

He also stated, “The initiative on Critical

INDIA RELIABLE FRIEND OF SRI

LANKA: MoS MURALEEDHARAN

Colombo: India is always a dependable partner and a reliable friend of Sri Lanka, Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Saturday. His remarks came as he attended Sri Lanka’s 75th Independence Day. Several other foreign dignitaries also attended the event. Muraleedharan said he was happy to represent India at “friendly neighbour” Sri Lanka’s 75th Independence Day celebrations.

and Emerging Technology (iCET) is a unique initiative because this is perhaps the first time that not only the administration but academia

HILLARY TO PAY RESPECTS TO

SEWA FOUNDER IN GUJ TODAY

Ahmedabad: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be on a two-day visit of Gujarat from Sunday and will participate in programmes of the Self-Empowered Women's Association (SEWA) founded by social worker and Gandhian Ela Bhatt who died in November last year. Hillary will pay tribute to Bhatt in Ahmedabad and interact with SEWA members on Sunday, while on Monday she will visit Dhrangadhra.

& the scientific community have all come together.”

Earlier, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval made an official visit

UP: 12 PPS officers shifted, 1 IAS gets addl charge

Dr Ahtesham Siddiqui

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government has given the additional Labor Department to Principal Secretary PWD-II IAS Ajay Chauhan. This department was running vacant after the retirement of

ACS Suresh Chand of the Labor Department.

IAS Suresh Chandra retired on 31 January. After which the government has given the additional charge of 1998 batch IAS Ajay Chauhan here.

On the other hand, after the transfer of 11

Blast near Sunny Leone’s fashion show

Imphal (PTI): A powerful explosion took place on Saturday near the venue of a fashion show event in Imphal which actress Sunny Leone is scheduled to attend on Sunday, an official said.

However, no injuries were reported in the incident that took place in Hatta Kangjeibung area of Manipur’s capital.

The blast took place 100 metres from the venue at around 6.30am on Saturday.

It is not yet clear whether the explosion was caused due to an improvised explosive device or a grenade, he said. No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the explosion so far.

IPS officers, 12 PPS officers have been transferred to make better law and order in the government. Ghaziabad, PPS Mahesh Tyagi ACP Noida, PPS Navina Shukla DSP Gonda, PPS Santosh Kumar DSP Shravasti, PPS Rajiv Dwivedi DSP

Aligarh, PPS Pawan Gautam ACP Noida, PPS Ajit Kumar ACP Ghaziabad, PPS Shahida Nasreen Circle Officer Aligarh, PPS Daddan Prasad DSP Sonbhadra, PPS Satya Prakash Sharma has been made ACP LIU Agra.

PT Usha cries while complaining about encroachments at her athletics school

Thiruvananthapuram: Legendary Indian athlete and president of the Indian Olympic Association PT Usha on Saturday complained about encroachments at her athletics school at Balussery near Kozhikode.

Usha said this was noticed at the 30 acre facility of her school which has several girls who are inmates.

“We have seen some construction that has begun in our property that was given to us for the

We have to be very careful as there are girls and hence safety and security are a must.

—PT Usha, Legendary Indian athlete and president of the Indian Olympic Association

school. I have lodged a complaint with CM Pinarayi Vijayan. We have to be very careful as there are girls and hence safety and security are a must,” said Usha.

After the complaint, the work was stopped.

Usha added that this has happened after she recently became a nominated member of the Upper House.

3rd KHELO INDIA WINTER GAMES

With all G20 countries showing interest and commitment in constructively working towards the objective of the three priority areas of Addressing Global Skills Gaps, gig and platform economy and social protection and Sustainable Financing of Social Security set by the Indian Presidency, the first G20 Employment Working Group meet concluded on Saturday.

The three-day meeting of the Indian Presidency, led by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, had the mandate of addressing priorities of labour, employment and social issues for strong, sustainable, balanced, and jobrich growth for all.

The EWG meetings began on Thursday with panel discussion on ‘Exploring Strategies for

The 3-day meet of Employment Working Group was held from Feb 2-4 in Jodhpur

Global Skills and Qualifications Harmonisation and developing a Framework for Common Skill Toponomies’.

Welcoming the delegates at the G20 Employment Working Group in Jodhpur, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat called upon the members of the international community in the opening session of the second day to strive together to make meaningful progress in creating more opportunities for decent work and inclusive growth for all people.

to Washington from January 30-February 1. He was accompanied by senior government officials and leaders of Indian industry.

Delegates during the first G20 Employment Working Group meeting, in Jodhpur on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI

PFI member held for ‘conspiring against govt’ in MP

Bhopal (ANI): The Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested a member of the banned PFI outfit from Bhopal for allegedly conspiring against the government and indulging in unlawful activities, officials said on Saturday.

Officials said the arrest was made on Friday in connection with a case registered by the state police’s Special Task Force (STF) last year. The member identified as Wasid Khan, a Sheopur district resident of Madhya Pradesh, absconded in the case registered at STF.

“PFI member Wasid Khan (26), a resident of Sheopur, was arrested under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 121A (conspiracy to wage war against govt), 153B (assertions prejudicial to national inte-

TN

gration) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) besides the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” officials said.

Khan was associated with the PFI and had been attending the organisation’s various programmes and secret meetings since 2017.

“He used to participate in secret meetings of PFI and was in contact with senior officials of the organisation,” the official said. After the arrest, he was produced before the court which sent him to police remand till February 8.

New Delhi (PTI): A day after its plant was inspected by Indian drug regulatory bodies over allegations that its eye drop was linked to vision loss in the US, Tamil Nadu-based Global Pharma Healthcare has been asked to stop manufacturing all ophthalmic products till the inquiry is completed, officials said on Saturday.

A three-member team each from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and the State Drug Controller visited the plant in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram, 40 km from Chennai, on Friday after the company recalled the eye drop. The teams have also collected samples of eye drop — Artificial Tears — which were exported. The eye drop is not sold in India.

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur launches mascot, theme song and jersey

lll Khelo India

Winter Games will be held from 10th to 14th this month at Gulmarg in Jammu & Kashmir

First India Bureau

Jammu: Union Minister Anurag Thakur and the LG of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha on Saturday launched the third Khelo India Winter Games mascot, theme song and jersey. The Winter Games are scheduled to be held from the 10th to the 14th of this month. Approximately 1500 athletes

across the country will participate in the games that will take place in Gulmarg and will be played across nine sports events. Thakur mentioned, “The Winter Games, being hosted here in Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir embodies the visions of the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi - on the one hand it has given a chance to the youth

of the valley to not just participate in the Games but also to witness an enthralling sporting competition with players from all across the country, in the comfort of their home town and it also acts as a springboard for talented athletes to showcase their sporting prowess.”

The Khelo India Winter Games started in 2020 and it is supported

by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and is organized by the J&K Sports Council as well as the Winter Games association of the J&K. Thakur added, “In places like Shopian, where till not so long ago the youth was misled into performing acts of stone pelting, taking drugs and indulging in such activities.”

Ambassador of India to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Pharma firm recalls eyedrops from US market after complaints

IAS Ajay Chauhan

business BRIEFS

NOW JIO LAUNCHES

5G SERVICES IN HARIDWAR

On February 1, 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24 to Parliament.

The Union Budget ’23

fiscal year to be 5.9%, a reduction of 50 basis points from this year’s target of 6.4%.

Hits & Misses

Mumbai: Reliance Jio on Saturday launched its True 5G services in Haridwar from Har Ki Pauri, taking the total number of Jio True 5G cities to 226 across the country. The telecom company said starting today, Jio users in Haridwar would be invited to the Jio Welcome Offer to experience unlimited data at up to 1 Gbps+ speeds, at no additional cost. Haridwar becomes the second city in the state after the capital city Dehradun to get Jio True 5G services, according to a company statement. —ANI

49TH GST COUNCIL MEET TO BE HELD ON FEBRUARY 18

Last year was filled with unpredictable and tumultuous global events whose adverse effects percolated right down to the individual level. The Union Budget of 2023-24 was projected to include a relief for the middle and lower income class as well as push for infrastructure and job growth. The Budget has delivered on most of these expectations. The current government has done a splendid job of ticking all checkboxes by providing benefits to almost everyone be it the rural poor, youth, an average middle class man, senior citizens, corporates as well as startups. Let us look at some of the hits and misses of this budget.

HITS

New Delhi: The 49th meeting of the GST Council is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on February 18, 2023, according to a tweet posted by the council. The GST Council meeting will be chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The 49th GST Council meeting is likely to take up issues relating to taxation on ‘pan masala’ and ‘gutka’ companies, setting up of appellate tribunals, and GST levy on online gaming, casino, and horse racing. —ANI

IND MOBILE EXPORTS

SET TO ZOOM TO RECORD HIGH

z Benefits for the common man: The most awaited part of the budget -Direct Taxes- did not disappoint. The middle class happily welcomed the proposal of hiking rebate under section 87A from ` 5 lakh to `7 lakh in the new tax regime. Under the new tax slabs, individuals enjoy the benefits of lower taxes. For example, an individual with an annual income of `9 lakh will have to pay only `45,000 as opposed to ` 60,000 currently. Even the ultra rich benefit from the proposal to reduce the highest surcharge rate from 37% to 25%.

z Saving schemes: Deposit limit for senior citizens’ savings scheme doubled from `15 lakh currently to ` 30 lakh. One type saving scheme for women introduced for deposit upto `2 lakh at 7.5% interest rate.

z Focus on rural sector: There was a major focus on rural development in this budget as the Union Finance Minister announced that the agricultural credit target will be increased to ` 20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries. Allocation for PM Awas Yojna increased by a whopping 66% to over `79,000 crore which will enable the required infrastructure push as well as job creation.

z MSME support: While it was expected that the credit guarantee schemes brought in during the pandemic will be phased out, a revamp of the schemes has been proposed in this budget. With an investment of `9000 crore, a revised credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs would go into effect on April 1, 2023. This will allow for an additional `2 lakh crore in collateral-free credit guarantees, which will allow for a 1% reduction in the cost of borrowing. For MSMEs that are still recuperating from the effects of the epidemic, this is wonderful news.

z For enhancing ease of doing business, more than 39,000 compliances have been reduced, over 3,400 legal provisions decriminalized. Green Growth was one of the seven focus areas of the Budget `35,000 crore capital investment was provided towards energy transition and net zero objective.

z No bad news is good news: No change in long term capital tax gain which was expected to increase.

MISSES

tions involving high-value insurance policies announced in this budget will also impact large ticket policy sales. The exemption benefit has been a major factor in the insurance industry’s growth in India. Huge chunks of policies are still sold during the tax planning season of January to March.

z Boost for PLI scheme missing: No new sectors were introduced as part of production linked incentives to boost manufacturing which was widely anticipated. Let us now look into the details of announcements under broad categories.

PERSONAL INCOME TAX

z Exemption Rebate increased to `7 lakh from `5 Lakh i.e. there is no tax on income up to `7 Lakh

z Individuals with income of `15.5 lakh and above are eligible for standard deduction of `52,500 in the new tax regime as opposed to `50,000 in the old regime.

z Currently, the highest rate is 42.74% income tax under the new regime. The Budget has proposed to reduce the highest surcharge from 37% to 25% in the new tax regime, thereby reducing the rate to maximum of 39%.

z Limit on tax exemption for leave encashment is increased from 3,00,000 to 25,00,000

OTHER MAJOR CHANGES

SAVING SCHEMES

z Senior Citizen Savings

Scheme: Maximum investment limit increased from `15 lakh to `30 lakh.

`z Mahila Samman Bachat Patra: One-time small savings scheme announced for women which accepts a maximum `2 lakh deposit for two-year period with fixed interest of 7.5%.

INFRASTRUCTURE

z The capital account ex penditure is estimated to be ` 10 lakh crore forming 3.3% of GDP, an increase of 33% YoY

z The outlay for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is being increased by 66% to over `79,000 crore.

z 50 additional airports, heliports, water aerodromes, and advanced landing zones are proposed to be revitalized.

z 100 critical transport infrastructure projects for steel, ports, fertilizer, coal, foodgrain sectors have been identified with an investment of `75,000 crore (`15,000 crore from private sources)

z Railway outlay budgeted at `2.40 Lakh Crore which is the highest ever. It is over 9x times that of FY14.

EDUCATION

z Eklavaya Model Residential Schools: In the next three years, the Centre will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students

CLEAN ENERGY & ELECTRIC VEHICLES

This budget provides for `35,000 crore capital investment towards energy transition and net zero objective and energy security. `19,700 crore was allocated to the National Hydrogen Mission. The objective is to reach hydrogen production capacity of 5 metric million tonnes by 2030.

HEALTHCARE AND OTHER WELFARE SCHEMES

z From Jan. 1, 2023, PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana is being implemented to supply free food grain to all Antyodaya and priority households for one year.

z Health spending has been given an allocation of ` 88,956 crores, an increase of 2.7% or ` 2,350 crores from FY23’s allocation of ` 86,606 crores.

z The budget allocates `7,200 crores to the Ayushman Bharat– Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY), an increase of `743 crores or 11.5% from FY23 when it received `6,457 crores.

z The Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) has received `11,600 crores in funding, an increase of `1,366 crores or 13.4% from the `10,234 crores provided in FY23.

New Delhi: India has been going big on electronic manufacturing for the last few years and in December 2022, Apple became the first company from the country to export smartphones worth USD 1 billion in a month. According to a recent article, December was the record month for the industry with mobile phone exports of over Rs10,000 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for 2023 is to have mobile phone exports with the segment featuring in the top 10 export category from India, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said. —ANI

‘BUDGET ALLOCATION TO ENHANCE

JUDICIAL EFFICIENCY’

z Huge infrastructure push: The expected capital expenditure will be `10 lakh crore, up 33% year over year. Effective government capital expenditures will total `13.7 lakh crore, or 4.5% of GDP, which is favorable for the capital goods and infrastructure sector.

z Fiscal deficit target maintained: Government has maintained prudence and set the deficit target for the current

z No change in deductions: A few expectations which were missed in the Budget were increase in Standard Deductions by salaried individuals and increase in deduction level under 80C. As the government is pushing to make the New Tax Regime as the default regime, the old tax regime did not see any significant upgrades.

z Big blow for insurance companies: This is a big negative for insurance companies as the incentive of getting deductions on insurance premiums will no longer look attractive. Insurance policies are often bought for tax planning which will reduce in future. Plus curbs on exemp-

FINANCE MINISTER SAYS...

The New Tax Regime is now the default Tax Regime. However, citizens can continue to use the old one too. The Proposed Slab is as below:

‘Budget’s main focus is growth; Mum should be liking proposals’

Mumbai (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said growth is the main focus of the budget for FY24 presented by her recently.

New Delhi: Proposed allocation of Rs7,000 crore in the 2023-24 budget for phase three of the eCourts Project will enhance judicial institutions and efficiency while ensuring courts reach every citizen, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said Saturday. Addressing the 73rd anniversary of establishment of the Supreme Court, he said that during the COVID-19 pandemic period, the top court adopted video conferencing of court proceedings to reach out to people. —PTI

The budget proposals establish both fiscal consolidation and growth, especially inclusive growth, Sitharaman said during her maiden interaction with stakeholders outside the national capital since presenting the budget on February 1.

“Growth is the main focus. We want to sustain that recovery, sustain that growth,” Sitharaman, accompanied by the top ministry officials at the outreach event, said. She gave credit for ensuring growth to the people of the country, who absorbed the relief and policy measures introduced by the government since

We want to sustain that recovery, sustain that growth. Mumbai should be liking proposals.

—Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister

the onset of the pandemic to make India the secondfastest growing economy.

The finance minister said it was the “express desire” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue with the elevated public capital expenditure, due to which she has proposed a higher outlay of Rs10 lakh

crore under the head. She also thanked the budget-making team for making it possible to devote such a high quantum of resources for the task amid the myriad challenges like the need for fiscal consolidation. “Mumbai should be liking it (the proposals),” Sitharaman said.

z Basic customs duty rates to be reduced from 21% to 13%

z Taxes on cigarettes hiked by 16%

z Basic import duty on compounded rubber increased to 25% from 10%.

z Customs duty on kitchen electric chimney increased to 15% from 7.5%

z The Budget proposes to increase the limit for presumptive taxation for MSMEs and certain professionals to `3 crore and `75 lakh, respectively.

z New cooperatives that commence manufacturing activity till March 2024 to attract lower tax rate of 15%

Next e-auction of FCI wheat under OMSS to be held on Feb 15: Govt

New Delhi (PTI): The next e-auction for the sale of FCI wheat to bulk consumers like flour millers under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) will be held on February 15, the Food Ministry said on Saturday.

State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been mandated to sell 25 lakh tonnes of wheat from buffer stock to bulk consumers under the OMSS to contain rising prices of wheat and wheat products in country.

The first sale of wheat through e-auction was held on February 1-2. About 9.2 lakh tonnes of wheat was sold from FCI depots in 23 states. The plan was to hold a weekly e-auction every Wednesday. In a statement, the Food Ministry said, “The second sale of wheat through e-auction will be held throughout country on February 15.”

z A National Digital Library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres and levels and device-agnostic accessibility.

z 100 labs for developing apps using 5G services will be set up in Engineering institutions. Labs will cover, among other things, applications like Smart Classrooms, Precision Farming, Intelligent Transports Systems, and Healthcare in order to realize the new range of options, business models, and job potential.

z In top educational institutions, 3 centers of excellence for AI will be established with the objectives of “Making AI in India” and “Making AI Work For India.”

z Alongside the 157 medical colleges that have already been operating since 2014, 157 additional nursing colleges will open.

IN CONCLUSION

The current government has chosen an inclusive approach while presenting its last Union Budget before the general elections. The focus of the budget was on stabilising macroeconomic factors and providing a strong impetus to growth and job creation. With a strong emphasis on infrastructure, health, agriculture, and green initiatives, the budget has made bold and forward-looking promises. If executed well, India is unquestionably set up for significant growth and stability, with benefits for all citizens.

Indian govt focuses on empowering farmers

New Delhi (ANI): The Indian government launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in 2016 to address the issue of farmers’ inability to get crop insurance due to lack of money, high premium rates, and capping. The scheme has completed six years of its implementation.

The PMFBY is aimed at giving farmers a simple and affordable crop insurance option to ensure comprehensive risk coverage for crops against all natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest and provide adequate claim amounts.

The demand-driven scheme is available to all.

In this scheme, it has become easier for the farmer to report crop loss within 72 hours of any incident through Fasal Bima App, Citizens Service Centre, or nearest agriculture officer.

During this period,

claims of more than Rs1,24,223 crore have been paid to more than 11.73 crore farmer applicants. Farmers had paid a premium of about Rs 25,185 crore. That is, the farmers have received almost five times the premium paid (received Rs493 on payment of Rs100 premium) as claims.

The most important change had been that instead of 50%, the Centre now gives a 90% share in the subsidy for crop insurance to farmers of northeastern states.

What is a day? Your life in miniature – as you spend your day so you will spend your life!

—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India

BBC documentary on Gujarat riots an international conspiracy: Dr Chandra

z Despite a heavy snowfall on the last day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the type of response Rahul Gandhi received in Srinagar, do you think Congress will be able to revive itself in Jammu and Kashmir considering that elections will also happen in State?

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra:

See his popularity at that moment had reached a new high.

The journalists that went from Delhi returned astonished and claimed that if elections were to happen on the day in the State, Rahul Gandhi will witness a landslie victory. But elections are different and coming together of ten thousand people, temporarily, is something entirely different. Moreover, there is another variable in this equation i.e. Rahul’s behaviour in the coming days whther he stays a politician or gets back to old self.

And when elections happen, those who stood with him and shared stage like Mehbooba Mufti or Omar Abdullah would go their separate ways. This may happen at the time of election but yes there has been a little sympathy for Rahul in the valley.

z When Rahul unfurled Tricolour at Lal Chowk, the party workers propagated that after Pt Nehru, it is Rahul who has unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk.

How true is that? Secondly, how different is Lal Chowk now from the past?

Saying that only Pandit Nehru unfurled Tricolor at Lal Chowk is rubbish and factually not correct. Narendra Modi himself went to unfurl the Tricolour at Lal Chowk nearly three decades back and threw a challenge to anyone who can dare stop him.

And Narendra Modi’s daring needs to be praised that he did not fear the forces then and went to Lal Chowk and unfurled the Tricolor.

So Congress claiming that they did so is wrong. In fact, in the early stages, Congress leaders were of the view in Jammu that they shouldnt unfurl tricolor because this is RSS-BJP’s agenda, however later everyone including Rahul went there and did unfurl the flag. As of today, af-

ter abrogation og Article 370, Lal Chowk has been changed completely. Earlier Lal Chowk was a spot of terror and fear, people never used to think about going there. Those who live in Kashmir they too didnt used to go there claiming that terrorists and security forces clash at the spot since it was a centre-point of these clashes. But today the situation is different. The Congress leaders and workers who went to Srinagar for Rahul’s service were seen taking selfies at Lal Chowk. In fact when I visit Srinagar, I become astonished at how normalcy has returned at Lal Chowk. Every person can come and go and at times I wonder if I am at Lal Chowk. When I go to Kashmir, one of the way to the airport goes through Lal Chowk and I ask my driver to take me through there since there is some love for that spot. The local life there in juice shops and sweet shops has taken a new turn, so Lal Chowk has changed completely.

CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Bharat24-Vision of New India and First India; CMD, First India News, Dr Jagdeesh Chandra lays bare how various parties may have come together in Kashmir during Rahul’s Yatra but would go their separate ways in elections, how Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s daring approach at taking on the challenge of terrorists regarding unfurling Tricolor at Lal Chowk decades back needs to be praised, how Congress’ claim that after Pt Nehru, Rahul unfurled Tiranga at Lal Chowk is wrong and how BBC was wrong in only showing Gujarat riots and completely missing the Delhi anti-Sikh riots… (Part II)

anything on riots that occurred under British Raj or under Congress rule. So, is this documentary a one way exercise?

z During the Bharat Jodo Yatra, an issue of Congress workers removing Savarkar’s photo in Kochi came forward. What was that issue about?

I had also heard that.It was unfortunate, indecent and should not have happened. This happened on September 7 when Rahul Gandhi reached Kochi from Kanyakumari and across the city, posters of freedom fighters had been put up. Among these was Savarkar’s photo, which was removed by Congress workers and in its place Mahatma Gandhi’s photo was put up. The video of this went viral. This was unfortunate, it shouldnt have happened. One should be decent in politics. This is not the right way.

z These days the BBC documentary on Gujarat riots has made headlines. However the documentary does not mention

Of course it is a one way exercise. If you make a documentary on riots then it will be good if you make it in totality, since it shows justice to the issue. Generally what happens is that when a documentary is made, those making the said piece focus on a small aspect or one issue. However, when this documentary was released and people gave their reactions to it, they realised that under Congress rule so many riots happened but you have not showed that. You have made Kashmir files, but you are not making 1984 Sikh files.

As far as riots are concerned, there was a riot in Bihar, decades back, in which about 1500 peo ple killed. Then there was Mumbai riots after bomb blasts in which 800 people were killed.

One riot happened in Odisha where 1900 peo ple were killed when Indira Gandhi govern ment was in Delhi.

After that 1984 an ti-Sikh riots also hap pened, in which govern ment itself ac cepts that three thousand Sikhs were killed. And if you compare these figures with Gujarat, then 1100 people were killed there including 300 Hin dus and remain ing being Mus lims. So if

you see in terms of quantum, in Delhi’s anti-Sikh riots, the government has accepted three thousand deaths in Delhi, eight hundred in other places and it is said, in public sphere, that four thousand people were killed. So in comparison to Gujarat, Delhi’s anti-Sikh riots were almost five times

er areas. Just imagine how gruesome a view it would have been. Riots should not happen anywhere, but if you project riots, it would have been better that the BBC producers compared it to the Delhi’s anti-Sikh riots.

z Before BBC released that documen-

spark to light the fire. If this is true and how do you see this irresponsible remark?

If this is true, then the entire effort undertaken for Rahul Gandhi’s yatra is for nought. Finished. How irresponsible comment it is in London that all it needs is a spark as the nation has been doused in petrol. If the BJP runs this comment of Rahul during election, then it will be difficult for Congress to get votes. Providing them security will become difficult. You can target and attack BJP or RSS, but what are you doing, you are inciting the people. How serious a matter this is. If you want to say on such lines, you can do it before your confidantes, but you are saying it in a place from where papers, web and the entire media has picked up. If this is true, then it is most unfortunate and will kill the entire impact of this yatra.

But is there any worry in BJP’s top leadership regarding the Yatra? They aren’t worried, rather are concerned.

The reason for this is that the feedback system of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah is extremely good. Even if a leaf moves, they know about it, they dont take any chances.

The amount of feedback Rahul Gandhi has about the yatra, Modi-Shah have five times more

feedback than the Congress party as in what has happened in which state. This is because they are twenty four hours in the election mode, the entire week, the entire year they are in this election mode. When after discharging their respective constitutional duties, they go to sleep, even then for one hour they must be thinking about elections as to which election is to be fought how. This is their style. They do not want to loose even a single election, nor do they want anyone else to win. Their focus is on winning election, so they take notice of it and thus they have taken notice of the yatra and they will take step when the time comes.

So it is a fact that they are not worried but are concerned.

z If we look at Mohan Bhagwat’s and Narendra Modi’s comments over the past some time, does it seem that their thinking regarding Muslims has undergone a change and that there are different ideas on this subject in the party?

This is a fact. I just told you that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are mastermind individuals and take decisions according to the time. They dont take decisions based on their ego rather based on incidents and developments. At times they take a U-turn also, keeping in mind the people’s mandate and people’s mood and elections. Now they have

assessed that they dont have any threat in 2024. The so-called polarisation that had to happen has already happened, the Hindu vote is not going to veer away. So now they have shifted towards the reality, which was much awaited, so they have done so. Firstly, PM picked up the issue of Shahrukh Khan’s movie Pathan and in its background he said that it is unfortunate that BJP workers pick up trivial issues like the movie which should not happen. That day Modi became a hero in the Muslim community. That movie became a superhit and lakhs of people watched it. So, you cant match their vision, their role and their ability. Few days before this he said that wod with the Muslim community should increase and people should mix with them, specially with the Bohra community and sufis. So they are increasing their connect with Muslims and on the other hand RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is holding meetings with Muslims.

Something is happening which is good for democracy that they are taking them along and it is then that in its truest spirit the slogan of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ will become a reality. So it is current that a change is coming in BJP’s strategy and an effort is being done to bring Muslims in the mainstream.

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

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra with (L) Surabhi Tiwari, Ayushi Shekhawat, Amit Mishra, Aditi Nagar, Poornima Mishra during The JC Show.

FIT & BOLD

Ishita Sharma, a young model born in Sikar, Rajasthan and currently hailing from the Pink City is known for her charisma and mesmerised everyone with her beauty in the recently held Queen of India, a national level beauty pageant. The list goes on, but what you need to know is that when Ishita puts her energy into something, she’s all the way in. This young beauty answers every question with frank openness and no lack of zany charm!

You can’t help but notice Ishita Sharma – the trailblazing fashion model is a savvy force to be reckoned with. The beauty made her runway and won hearts at Queen of India auditions.

Talking about her journey, the beauty said, “Fashion and glamour industry was nowhere close to my mind, I whole heartedly follow and promote fitness though. I finished my schooling and one day I was blessed with the opportunity to work for the beauty pageant I

took that opportunity and the rest is history. I couldn’t be more grateful to Jagdeesh Chandra Sir and the First India team for their support and guidance.” When asked about her family background, the star replied, “My family lives in Hyderabad and they have supported me all throughout. I have always been passionate aboput health and fitness and for the same I also run a sports and gym wear shop in Jaipur.” She further added, “I wish to make my family and my country proud by representing myself on international beauty platforms. I didn’t realize that so many people, especially from my hometown started to look up to me and I would want them to know that always believe in yourself. Listen to your heart and slay the world! My major motivation is for the women as I always strive hard towards uplifting my fellow ladies, everyone deserves to shine and build a place for themselves.

SHUBHANSHI PATHAK cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO

Aries

MARCH 21 - APRIL 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.

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 and retentive power will help you forge ahead on the academic front. Overall a good day.

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.

Libra

SEPTEMBER 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. You are most wanted by your friends.

Sagittarius

NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22

Whatever you have in mind, you will manage to implement it at work. You are likely to feel much healthy and energetic today. Visit a doctor if you have any doubts about your health. You want to have your own house and you will work hard to make your dream come true.

Aquarius

JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19

It will be in your interest to guide a family youngster on the academic front. Scrumptious food is what you are craving for today. You may start a side business to earn extra money. You are not a jealous kind and you feel happy for others. You are a very grounded person.

A Boarding School Diary!

Taurus

APRIL 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 romantic relationship.Overall health remains fine.

Cancer

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

Your intuition will save you from a tricky spot today. Yoga would help in raising energy levels and improve your metabolism. You will manage to achieve your aim through travel. This is a great time on the academic front, when you mange to render your best.

Virgo

AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23

Avoid raising controversial issues at home to maintain harmony. Successful implementation of new ideas and projects would add to your prestige on the professional front. It is a wonderful day to build new connections. Your relationship requires you to be tactful. Help your mother and make her smile.

Scorpio

OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 22

You must create an environment of understanding at home. Your regular exercise routine promises to keep you fit and energetic. You will succeed in any sort of examination if you put your heart and soul to it. You need a break from day to tensions.

Capricorn

DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20

Homemakers will get a chance to implement their ideas. You are likely to be recognised for your efforts on the professional front. Chance of a raise is possible for some. Timely and correct decision will help you in saving a lot of money. You will be able to de-stress yourself completely today.

Pisces

FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20

Pending paperwork concerning a property will

Circa 95, for my life at the Doon School, was a world unto itself. Shielded in large part from the brutal reality that existed outside the hallowed boundaries of the ample campus; we were firmly placed in the school's embracing womb. No, I do not mean we were insensitive to the outside; just engrossed in boarding school life. Our days & nights are consumed with sport, competition, and a little bit of studying. A clan, a clique if you will. There were silly things that at the time seemed epic and swallowed our myopic minds and our racing hearts. Here's introducing that world within a world...

The House. Not all of us were fortunate enough to pick our houses. Second and third-generation Doscos aside; we got what we got. What's fascinating now is how attached we became to our respective houses. “Men love their country, not because it is great, but because it is their own”. Not to say our houses weren't great. My point is, irrespective of many factors including the kind of house mates, house masters, and the perception of the house; each boy's house was his own, and it was loved unconditionally, with utter devotion. The house then, Oberoi or Tata, Jaipur Kashmir or Hyderabad; was to each of its students, a staunch religion. We lived to uphold the honour of the house. From the PT Gong to the One Act Play Competition; the Cricket Trophy to the Music Competition; each student, with relentless focus, pursued every inter-house title for his respective house.

The House also provided an identity, much like a country does. And not unlike countries that sometimes garner the wrong kind of publicity; houses too were perceived more, or less favourably, at different times (depending mostly upon how many sporting trophies lined each house’s trophy cases in the Central Dining Hall). Whatever the prevalent perception of one's house, so was one's own identity and standing in the school's social order.

Beyond unconditional allegiance to one's house & the selfimage it endowed one with; the house was quite literally, the resting place. A safe heaven, a shaded sanctum (well at least when we became senior). A

place to return to after a hard day's work. The 'common room', our watering hole, and the 'newaad' beds, our counterparts to the luxurious memory mattresses we’d ‘sacrificed’ to be here, rejuvenating, completely restful. It was in the house where we celebrated every triumph, and rued each loss. It was in the house amid 'house drinks' that teams were either congratulated or hauled up. And it was in the house that each Doon schoolboy made his little family away from family. Safe, comforting, familiar, and reassuring.

The Sc. If the house was the country, the senior most class was its vanguard. A people who defined the consciousness of the rest of the house's student body. They set the tone for the house – cool, sporting, scholarly, whatever the case. Most importantly, it was from among these super-seniors that we picked our idols & men tors. We would sometimes easily, at other times justifiably, fashion ourselves on these sen iors. The fel low who scored the maximum goals in the soccer tournament final; the guy who had the biggest fol lowing at a certain girls' school; even the bloke who dared to have his head clean-shaven! The rea sons ranged from solid to plain bizarre; but we all, whether we admitted it or not, had our cho sen 'gurus'.

Apart from providing invaluable 'guidance'; the seniors also served as 'protectors'. At least a few important (read those wielding immense influence thanks to high cool-quotient) ones, that every wise junior had the foresight to 'butter up'; would go on to bail us out in many questionable situations; even recommend us to that much-sought-after 'post' that the senior was occupying at the time!

The Sc formers then, the senior-most set of students on campus were a much-revered lot. Sure there were those among them that were not in the best favour with students they may have rubbed the wrong way; for the most part, though, they provided sheltering respite. They were our unsaid brothers, our insurance of a good time, our indemnity in moments of strife.

The House-MasArguably the most complex relationship that a student shared on campus, was with his housemaster. A house-master who really was like a foster parent; complete with all the love & hate trappings that are part of real parenting. The house being a country, the House Master was its ultimate authority, its Prime Minister. And God forbid the chosen House Master wasn't exactly Mr Popular, the house would

soon turn into a dictatorship, rather than a democracy. In all fairness to the House Master, it was a particularly delicate balance that needed to be struck. A tightrope walks along the edge of fun & liberty on one side, and faultless supervision on the other. A fall on either side would straddle the resultant extremes of 'anarchy' and 'hate'. Despite this precarious prerequisite, most House Masters were happy, as were the boys in their respective houses. Perhaps the defining aspect of the student-house master relationship was that of the latter being a strong counsel. In a real victory of the boarding school system and its true ethos, decentralized governance meant that it was for all intents & purposes, good or bad, the housemaster that would decide a student's fate. It was the keen insight into each uniquely individual student, that a housemaster used to determine appropriate action. If one were caught in a bind, the housemaster was there to help. If one were caught flouting a rule, even then the housemaster would try to resolve the problem 'in-house'; quite like the patriarch of a real family would do.

As one became senior, the dynamic with one's house master matured, much like it does between a father & a son. Less formal, more friendly. Less fearful, more mentoring. The best part, a house master's blessed pupil found himself in the much-coveted position of house captain or school prefect. It was then largely incumbent on the housemaster, to shape a boy's life on campus. And to the student, the dynamic he developed with his respective house-master, formed the most critical relationship of his tenure at the school.

The School. With all these elements, the house, the house master and the students; Doon was our universe. House first, the school a very close second. Pride for the school, often perceived as misplaced snobbishness, was in fact and continues to be, ONLY respect. Respect for a universe that helped us define ourselves as young thinking adults. Thanks to the school that let us run wild and discover ourselves. Loyalty to an institution that cultivated our sensibilities. And indebtedness to an alma mater that is so deeply engrained in our consciousness, it would be impossible to shake off.

For all of us proud Doscos who spent between six to seven years of our growing up years on the campus; the gates of the Doon School don't symbolize Alcatraz like they might have when we join as freshers. They're the welcoming gates to our home. A world within a world, unlike any other.

MONA,

Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

KARTIK BAJORIA

The author is a Jaipur-based Communication Skills Educator & Writer

BREAKING THE INTERNET

Lilly Singh, the comedian that rose to popularity with her massively successful YouTube channel is known for making the South Asian community proud. Recently, she shared a video with American model Hailey Bieber as they were grooving to a Bollywood song. Taking to her Instagram handle, Lilly shared a hilarious reel where she was grooving to the iconic Bollywood track ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ along with American model and socialite

Hailey Bieber. In the video, we first see Lilly dancing and then the atter joined her and both of them were doing the hook step of the song. Along with the video, Lilly wrote ‘When you make a new friend… but they’re also a stun ning model like hii iii @haileybieber PS: had a blast shooting your show and be coming your new fav Cana dian.’

BRIDE-TO-BE

All eyes are on Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra ever since the news of their wedding has come out. According to reports, their wedding preparations have already begun in Jaisalmer. The couple has kept everything quite discreet. On Sat-

Jaisalmer airport. That smile and glow on her face are proof of her happiness. Ki ara Advani was dressed in an allwhite attire. She was seen wearing a white top which she paired with white trousers and wrapped a Pink coloured shawl around her. The actress has carried a golden-coloured sling bag with her and looks stunning as she has left her hair

Perfect snow day

riyanka Chopra grabbed all the limelight this week after she decided to reveal her daughter Malti Marie’s face at the event as her father Nick Jonas and his brothers received the Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star. On Saturday too she posted a couple of pictures as she enjoys a snow day out with her daughter Malti and her friends. Taking to her Instagram handle, Priyanka Chopra shared a couple of pictures from her ‘perfect day’. PeeCee looks stylish as ever while she hold Malti’s pram. Although, we cannot see Malti’s face but it is clear that she was in the pram and was enjoying the scenic beauty. Sharing these pictures, the actress wrote, “Creating Perfect Moments every day.”

Too Hot To Handle

alak Tiwari, the name that holds credit for flaunting jawdropping looks and making everyone drool! With evolving fashion trends, Palak has managed to be a step ahead and has never been afraid to experiment with quirky and stunning outfits. Though her beauty grabs eye-

balls, the charm she carries everywhere is just commendable and unbeatable! Time and again, she effortlessly became the talk of the town for her gorgeous photos, and there is no denying it.

Palak Tiwari shared new photos on her social media handle and took the internet by storm. In this new

post, Palak looks absolutely stunning as she is decked up in a maroon bodycon oneshoulder dress and poses by the beach. Palak's curves are flawless and her makeup is subtle. Fans were quick enough to praise and show their love on Palak's beauty as soon as the photos were up on the internet.

Witty one liners

hraddha Kapoor is one of the most talented actresses in the Bollywood industry owing to her good looks and unique acting skills. The actress is quite active on social media and enjoys a massive fan following.

Recently, the actress shared a funny video on the song ‘Tere Pyaar Mein’ which is getting immense love from the fans and their hilarious reactions will leave you

Taking to her Instagram handle, Shraddha shared a witty video of herself enjoying pani puri. In the video, the ac-

EMBRACING MOTHERHOOD

tress was grooving to the song ‘Tere Pyaar Mein.’

Along with the video, she wrote ‘Aap log kiske pyaar mein Bheege Bheege Bheege? Comments mein batao aur apni apni reels banao.’ As soon as she shared the video, fans flooded the comment section with hilarious responses.

Bipasha Basu and Karan Sin

Palak Tiwari

Her post...

Bipasha Basu

Her post...

Her post...

Shraddha Kapoor

Hailey Bieber

Her post...

Kiara Advani

Spotted...

Priyanka Chopra

Her post...

—PHOTO

BY SUNIL SHARMA

Spotted...

AARYA BABBAR TURNS DIRECTOR!

OTT ACTORS ARE NOT BEING RECOGNIZED ”

actors are not becoming stars but they are not being recognized because the masses still prefer to watch TV,” she says.

entertainment industry has made such content which puts it in the open,” she says.

Actor Aarya Babbar who has been one of the prominent faces in Bollywood, debuts as a director in his new short film, ‘Pill hai Ke Manta nahi!’ Being a quirky, masaledar short film with the motive of giving an important message.

You name it and it’s got it all! The short film that is out on Disney + Hotstar is already garnering rave reviews from the audience.

As exciting as the title sounds, Aarya has promised this one to be one of the most entertaining projects the audience has ever witnessed.

When asked about the project, Aarya stated,

“This was an ex tremely exciting project for me where I wanted the audi ence to get the en tertainment of a two-hour film in a 30mins film. We as a team are excited that we have made a film which is just not a frivolous come dy but a comedy that connects with the OTT audience of today and the message of the film resonates with them.” The movie is produced by Babbar House and Parmar Productions.

While people love to watch content on OTT, these actors are yet to get that star value, says actress Subuhii Joshi. The actress adds that since the masses still love TV, they attach more stardom to TV actors, rather than OTT.

“It's not that OTT actors are not becoming stars, everybody watches OTT in today's time, that's the fact. It's easier to watch and accessible anywhere and anytime but the masses still watch TV. It's not that OTT

Since there is no censorship issue on OTT one or two bold scenes have become almost a normal thing. However, Subuhii is not in favour of this. “Honestly, I am not a big fan of such content. If it's really necessary, then it's fine but a lot of shows forcefully add such content. I become very uncomfortable when such scenes come up when I am watching something with my family,” she says.

Content on OTT touches on topics such as extramarital affairs, sex and drugs. However, Subuhii says that these topics have always been there in society. “It's not that the entertainment industry has exposed all these to people, such things have happened before too, in fact, they have happened in our vicinity. It's just that nobody has said it openly. But the

Meanwhile, the actress says that the a lot of young actors are very differentand talented. “Back when we came into the industry things were different. Today, newcomers learn a lot before they come. They already know the camera angle, etc.

But when I started, I was very raw and I think if you are raw, you do things in a better way, and you get polished over time. The thought process of today's generation is different and their beliefs are different too, I am not saying I am too old, but yes, the mindset varies. Newcomers already know what and when to speak. But I also feel that too much exposure is also not too good. They want to do things their way and in a perfect way but I think when things are done raw, the outcomes are good,” she expressed.

SAMANTHA SENDS best wishes to Akhil SRK hypes Bhaijaan

Agent, Samantha Ruth Prabhu took to the comment section and sent best wishes. She wrote, "Beast mode on (with fire emoticons)" Agent will release in all South languages on April 28, coinciding with Samantha Ruth Prabhu's birthday.

An agent is a highly anticipated film not just for Telugu audiences but for Akhil as well. He has pinned high hopes on the film and also underwent drastic physical transformation to do justice

Kareena stuns in a checkered Blazer

areena Kapoor Khan certainly is quite inimitable with her aura, and personality. While the actress is making some unique choices career-wise and will be seen in starkly different avatars in her upcoming projects, she certainly knows how to have fun.

The actress was recently spotted with sisters Karisma Kapoor and Amrita. While Karisma and Amrita were spotted in black, Bebo made heads turn in blue jeans along with a checkered blazer with green shoes. She's coloured her hair red and cut them short for her film with Hansal Mehta, and that's the look she's sporting lately. Kareena will be seen next in 'The Devotion Of Suspect X' directed by Sujoy Ghosh, alongside Vijay Varma and Jaideep Ahlawat. The actress is also set to begin shooting for her next, 'The Crew', this month.

Salman Khan’s fans have been super-excited about his upcoming film Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, which will release on Eid 2023. It is one of the most-anticipated films of the year, and apart from Salman Khan, it stars Venkatesh, and Pooja Hegde, with an ensemble supporting cast.

It’s no secret that Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are good friends, and their camaraderie in Pathaan was loved by their fans. Recently, Shah Rukh Khan hosted an ‘Ask SRK’ session on Twitter, during which he was asked by a fan about Salman’s film Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. A fan asked Shah

Rukh to predict the box-office collections of Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. “@ iamsrk #KisiKaBhaiKisiKiJaan boxoffice prediction? #AskSRK” wrote the fan. In his

reply, Shah Rukh hyped up the movie, and said that since it is Salman Khan’s film, it is definitely a must-watch! “Bhai ki picture hai…dekhna toh laazmi hai!!” wrote Shah Rukh.

Chitrashi marries BEAU DHRUV

Chitrashi Rawat, who is best known for her role as hockey player Komal in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chak De India married her longtime boyfriend Dhruvaditya Bhagwanani on Saturday in Chhattisgarh.

The actor has been revealing glimpses of her wedding festivities on her Instagram stories as she shared videos and photos from her haldi and mehendi ceremonies. Her friends from the film and television industries, Shilpa Shukla, Delnaaz Irani, Moonmoon Banerjee, Sayantani Ghosh and Tanya Abrol, were also present for the celebrations. The photos shared on social media by the actor show the couple and their friends in a festive mood.

Well, Indeed Chitrashi was the youngest of the Chak De India Lot and the wedding of the little one was a reason for the entire team to reunite and celebrate.

ASHISH TIWARI cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

Subuhii Joshii

Poster of the film

Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Samantha and Akhil

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena dons a checkered blazer

Newly weds Chitrashi Rawat and Dhruvaditya Bhagwanani

Salman and Shah Rukh Khan

Poster of the film