30112022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

K’TAKA VS MAHA
BORDER BATTLE
OVER IN SC TODAY!
New Delhi: A day before
the Supreme Court was to
hear Maharashtra’s petition
on a festering territorial
dispute, Karnataka Chief
Minister Basavaraj Bommai
reached New Delhi to meet
with BJP chief JP Nadda. He
also consulted with senior
lawyers, including Mukul
Rohatgi, the former Attorney
General of India, who will
appear for his state. “The
border dispute is a political
tool used by all parties in
Maharashtra,” Bommai
has said, adding that
Maharashtra’s pleas have not
been found valid for years.
RaneasksUddhavtogive
accountofhisworkforMaha!
First India Bureau
Mumbai: “Didn’t he
growupusingthenames
of Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi, Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah?” Union minister
and senior BJP leader
Narayan Rane asked of
Uddhav Thackeray on
Tuesday
.
Rane also raised seri-
ous allegations against
Thackeray
,twodaysafter
theShivSenachief criti-
cized the BJP and the
Eknath Shinde-led rival
Sena faction at a farm-
ers’ meet in Buldhana.
“(He) came to power
holding BJP’s hand and
then spent 2.5 years with
NCP President Sharad
Pawar,” he said.
“How much did you
steal in those 2.5 years?
How much was embez-
zled when COVID-19
medicines were pur-
chased? I have proof
from firms. Owners are
ready to talk. Many peo-
ple died due to lack of
medicine.Andtheywere
askingforapercentage,”
he alleged.
On the border row be-
tween Maharashtra and
Karnataka, Rane ad-
dressed NCP chief
Sharad Pawar, saying:
“Sharad Pawar ji, you
were the Chief Minister
of this state four times.
You said that we will not
give any village to Kar-
nataka,andBJPhasalso
decided that we will not
give any village.”
Rane also attacked
Thackeray for his si-
lence on Rahul Gandhi’s
comments on VD Sar-
varkar:
“When injustice was
done to a Marathi per-
son, Uddhav Thackeray
never came forward. Ra-
hul Gandhi came to Ma-
harashtra and left after
giving a statement on
VeerSavarkar,thesepeo-
ple did not say anything.
Uddhav Thackeray com-
mitted betrayal in the
name of Hindutva.”
He added: “How many
jobs went out of Maha-
rashtraintwoandahalf
years?Doesanyonehave
an account of this? Ud-
dhav Thackeray only
knows how to make al-
legations. What work
did Uddhav do in two
and a half years?”
Interestingly
, Rane
also claimed to have
proof thatactorSushant
Singh Rajput was mur-
dered.
“Disha Salian and Su-
shat Singh Rajput did
not commit suicide, but
were murdered. When
the need arises, I will
give this evidence to
CBI,”hesaid.Lastweek,
the CBI ruled Salian’s
death an accident.
Union min claims Uddhav came up the political ladder holding PM
Modi’s and Amit Shah’s hands but stabbed them in back. He
questioned how much money Thackeray made from nCoV medicines
Disha Salian
and Sushant
Singh Rajput did
not commit
suicide; they were
murdered. I have
evidence, which I
will give the CBI
when the need
arises.
—Narayan
Rane,
Union
Minister
Centre ‘gives’ Bombay HC 2 judges
New Delhi: Following
the recommendations
made by the Supreme
Court Collegium on
Tuesday, the Union gov-
ernment cleared the
names of two advocates
for appointment as
Bombay High Court
judges. The two advo-
cates--Santosh Govin-
drao Chapalgaonkar
and Milind Manohar
Sathaye--were approved
for appointment as ad-
ditional judges of the
Bombay HC. Interest-
ingly, the apex court
was in ‘anguish’ as a
result of the delay in ap-
pointments on the Cen-
tre’s end.
Notably, only last Fri-
day, the Centre had
turned down the rec-
ommendation of 10
judges forwarded by
the Supreme Court Col-
legium. In fact, a bench
comprising Justice SK
Kaul and Justice AS
Oka observed that
when the Collegium ‘re-
iterates a name, it is
end of chapter.’ It also
asked the Union gov-
ernment to resolve the
delay and gave fair
warning so as to not
make the court take a
judicial decision in this
regard. While com-
menting on the matter,
Union Law Minister
Kiren Rijiju stressed on
t he fact that govern-
ments used to pick
judges before 1991 and
that the existing system
was an outcome of judi-
cial order and alien to
the Constitution.
First India Bureau
Nashik: Senior leader
of theNationalistCon-
gress Party (NCP),
Chhagan Bhujbal, has
expressed apprehen-
sion that Shiv Sena –
Uddhav Balasaheb
Thackeray faction MP
SanjayRautmaybeat-
tacked during his up-
coming Karnataka
visit.
The Karnataka
High Court has sum-
moned him in connec-
tionwithaprovocative
speech delivered by
him a few years ago.
Raut will travel to Kar-
natakaforthehearing.
Expressing his
views, Bhujbal said
that the possibility of
an attack on Raut can-
not be ruled out and
his life might be in
danger. Therefore,
(Union Home Minis-
ter) Amit Shah should
pay attention to it
without doing politics.
With the Maharash-
tra-Karnataka border
villagemergerdispute
flaring up recently
,
Bhujbal said that
“there is a possibility
of an attack on Raut
during his visit to Kar-
nataka.”
I FEAR RAUT’S LIFE MIGHT
BE IN DANGER: BHUJBAL
WATCH THE NATIONAL HINDI NEWS CHANNEL BHARAT24 - JAHAN TAK BHARAT WAHAN TAK BHARAT24
IT’S OFFICIAL!
SIA+TATAS:VISTARA+AIRINDIA
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Tata Sons
and SIA on Tuesday an-
nounced that they will
merge Vistara into Air
India, with a target to
complete the process by
March 2024 subject to
regulatory approvals.
Tata Sons will hold
74.9% stake in the AI-
Vistara-AI Express-Ai-
rAsia India Pvt Ltd
(AAIPL) combined enti-
ty and SIA remaining
25.1% stake. Based on
SIA’s 25.1% stake post-
completion, its share of
any additional capital
injection could be up to
$615 mn, payable after
completion of merger.
l Tatas and Singapore Airlines agree to
merge Vistara & Air India by March 2024
l 25.1 per cent stake for the Singapore
Airlines (SIA) in “new Air India (AI)”
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
z SIA to invest $250
million after integration
is properly completed
z The valuation of the
new Air India is more
than $1 billion
z AAIPL and Vistara
airlines both did carriers
did not have a single
profitable fiscal
z They have a total of
218 widebody and nar-
rowbody aircraft
z AAIPL, Vistara serves
38 international and 52
domestic destinations
z Do not worry about
your future: Vistara CEO
assures 4,700 staffers
The merger of Vistara
and Air India is an im-
portant milestone in our
journey to make
Air India a truly
world-class airline.
We are transform-
ing Air India, with
the aim of provid-
ing great customer
experience, every
time, for every customer.
—N Chandrasekaran,
Tata Sons chairman
Tata Sons is one of the most
established and respected
names in India. With this
merger, we have an
opportunity to deepen
our relationship with
Tata and participate
directly in an exciting
new growth phase in
India’s aviation market
and restore AI to its
position as a leading airline on the
global stage.
—Goh Choon Phong, SIA CEO
We, at Vistara, take
immense pride in em-
barking on this journey.
Vistara is a fine
manifestation
of its parent
brands Tata Sons
and Singapore
Airlines, and we
are delighted that
we will continue
to be guided by their legacies as
we merge with Air India.
—Vinod Kannan, Vistara CEO
All is not well in Kerala
Cong as Venu-Tharoor
camps at loggerheads!
Sanctions-hit Russia asks
Ind for parts for key sectors
Moscow: Moscow has
sent India a list of over
500 products for po-
tential delivery in-
cluding parts for
cars, aircraft and
trains, four sourc-
es familiar with
matter said, as sanctions
squeeze Russia’s ability
to keep vital industries
running. India is keen to
boost trade in this way,
said the source, as
it tries to narrow a
ballooning trade
deficit with Russia.
Firms have ex-
pressed concern,
however, about poten-
tially falling foul of
Western sanctions.
Pramod Raghavan
Bengaluru: It seems
that trouble is brewing
in Kerala Congress
and ‘
ALLISNOTWELL’
in the state unit as the
KC Venugopal and
Shashi Tharoor camps
have reportedly come
face to face. Former Ker-
ala Congress President
Muraleedharan said on
Tuesday that those
dreaming of becoming
Kerala CM are the same
people that are engaged
in opposing Tharoor.
“Opponents were also
behind the cancellation
of the Kozhikode Youth
Congress program,” he
claimed. There was
rhetoric regarding
Kozhikode, Malabar
and Malappuram phase
of yatra and now Kerala
Congress sources have
revealed that KC’s name
is in CM race in case of
formation of govt.
But on the other hand,
Tharoor’s stature has in-
creased after the Con-
gress president election.
“Tharoorhadperformed
well in elections even
without any support. A
large part of Kerala
YouthCongressalsosup-
ported Tharoor,”sources
said. Notably
, disturbed
by the news of rebellion,
Shashi Tharoor made it
clear that he has no in-
tentiontoformanyparty
.
“IwillworkforCongress,
and have no intention to
formanyotherparty
.But
at whose behest the
Kozhikode program was
cancelled should be
probed,” he said. Mean-
while, on Tuesday
, KC
reachedJaipurtoresolve
the issue of Rajasthan.
RBI TO START PILOT
OF RETAIL DIGITAL
RUPEE ON DEC 1
Mumbai: The RBI on
Tuesday announced that the
first pilot for the retail version
of the digital Rupee (e₹-R)
would be introduced on Dec
01, 2022. It may be recalled
that the RBI had on October
31 indicated that pilot in
e₹-R would commence in a
month’s time. P7
BSE SENSEX 62,681.84 177.04 | NSE NIFTY 18,618.05 55.30
MUMBAI lWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.MAHENG/2022/14652 lVol 1 l Issue No.203
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI
ADANI GROUP WINS
DHARAVI REDEVP
PROJECT WITH
`5,069 CRORE BID
New Delhi: Reliance Jio users across the country are facing issues making
calls and sending messages. Several users took to Twitter to complain about
the issue. While some claimed that they are unable to make calls, others said
that they are unable to send/receive messages and use internet from Jio.
Mumbai: Adani Group has emerged as the highest
bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi Redevelopment
Project on Tuesday. The group has put in a `5,069
crore bid for redevelopment of one of the largest slum
sprawls in world, CEO of project SVR Srinivas said.
‘MEDIA MUST
REPORT VERY
CAUTIOUSLY ON
TERROR NEWS’
New Delhi: Union Information and Broadcasting
Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday advised caution
while live reporting terror attacks, saying it should
not provide clues to attackers and their ill motives
while accuracy of news is even more important. P6
RELIANCE JIO USERS FACE HUGE NETWORK OUTAGE
KC Venugopal
Shashi Tharoor
Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
paid a courtesy
visit to Honourable
Governor of Gujarat,
Acharya Devvrat at
Raj Bhavan Gujarat,
in Gandhinagar on
Tuesday evening.
COURTESY
MEET!
6 IAS OFFICERS
TRANSFERRED
Mumbai: The govt on
Tuesday announced the
transfer of six officers of the
IAS: Bhagyashree Banait,
VN Suryavanshi, Soumya
Sharma, SM Kurti, SS Chavan
and Tukaram Mundhe. This
is Mundhe’s 20th transfer in
his 16-year service, and his
second in two months.
FIRST INDIA
NEWS TURNS 9!
First India News, most-
watched channel in
Rajasthan celebrates its
ninth anniversary today.
The function will be held
at the channel office at
6pm, CMD Dr Jagdeesh
Chandra and Director,
First India News Virendra
Choudhary will grace
the occasion and greet
First India News family.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
AdvocatesSantoshGovindrao
ChapalgaonkarandMilindManohar
Sathayetobeelevatedtopostofaddljudges

NEWS
MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
MAN HELD FOR
STALKING TWO
GIRLS IN MUMBAI
WILL UDDHAV-LED
SENA ALLY WITH
AMBEDKAR’S VBA?
MAN ATTACKS
WIFE, MURDERS
SISTER-IN-LAW
Mumbai: A 30-year-old
man has been arrested
for allegedly chasing two
girls returning from a
tuition class in suburban
Andheri in his friend’s car,
police said on Tuesday.
The friend of the accused
is on the run. Both the men
hail from Meerut in Uttar
Pradesh and had come
to Mumbai to meet their
friend, who lives in subur-
ban Jogeshwari, a police
official said. The incident
occurred on Saturday
afternoon when the girls
were returning home after
attending a tuition class.
Mumbai: Vanchit Bahujan
Aghadi (VBA) leader
Prakash Ambedkar on
Tuesday asked the Uddhav
Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to
clarify if there would be an
alliance between the VBA
and the Maha Vikas Aghadi
(MVA). Already a member
of the MVA coalition with
the Nationalist Congress
Party and Congress, the
Thackeray faction of the
Sena is in talks with the
VBA for a tie-up. “Our ear-
lier talks were positive, and
now want the Uddhav-led
Sena to clarify if there will
be an MVA-VBA alliance in
future polls, or if VBA and
Sena will have separate al-
liances,” VBA said. Prakash
Ambedkar is the grandson
of late Dr BR Ambedkar.
Thane: In a shocking
incident in Badlapur
a husband killed his
sister-in-law when she
came to settle down the
property dispute between
husband and wife. The
incident took place on
Monday, November
28 and the police have
arrested the husband
said a police officer from
Badalapur police station
on Tuesday. The accused
also attacked his wife
and mother-in-law and
injured them.
FIR AGAINST RAGA
FOR SAVARKAR
STATEMENT?
Mumbai: An FIR may be
lodged against Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
for saying that Vinayak
Damodar Savarkar helped
the British, during his
“Bharat Jodo Yatra” in
Maharashtra. Savarkar’s
great-grandson Ranjit
Savarkar wrote a com-
plaint letter to the police,
on the basis of which,
the Mumbai Police has
completed the entire initial
process before filing a
FIR. According to sources,
political circles are abuzz
with the rumour that a FIR
may be registered against
Gandhi.
DOG WALKER THRASHED, PET KICKED FOR
REFUSING TO EXIT LIFT AT HOUSING SOCIETY
Mumbai: A 24-year-old dog walker was beaten up and a pet
dog was kicked for refusing to
alight an elevator in a housing
complex in the western suburb
Sakinaka here, police said on
Tuesday. The incident took
place at Arum housing society
in Nahar Amrit Shakti area on
Monday night, an official said.
After slapping the victim twice, the accused snatched a stick
from his hands and started beating him with it.
CRUCIAL READ
Dharavi redvt bid: Adani pips DLF
At `5,069 cr, winning bid more than double of 2nd
highest `2,025 cr, state govt nod awaited
First India Bureau
Mumbai: In a first
step of the Dharavi
Redevelopment Pro-
ject, the Adani
Group has won the
bid to redevelop one
of the largest slums
in the world.
Emerging as the
highest bidder for the
250 hectare (approxi-
mately) project, the
group outbid DLF
which had put in a bid
of Rs2,025 crore, by
quoting Rs5,069 crore
for the redevelopment
project, said SVR Srin-
ivas, Chief Executive
Officer of the project.
The Naman Group,
which was also gun-
ning to land the pro-
ject, did not qualify in
technical bidding.
“We will now be
sending the details to
the government,
which will consider
and give final approv-
al,” he said, adding
that the Maharashtra
government will ap-
prove it in a couple of
weeks. The bid is for
the entire Rs20,000
crore project, and the
total timeline for the
project is seven years
to rehabilitate the sev-
en lakh slum dwellers
who are spread over
2.5 sq km area right
now, said Srinivas.
The project, which
will help the winning
bidder to book high
revenues by selling
lakhs of square foot of
residential and com-
mercial space in cen-
tral Mumbai, has been
in limbo for many
years now because of
its complexities.
Eight bidders, in-
cluding entities from
South Korea and the
UAE, had attended a
pre-bid meet held in
October and three of
them actually bid for
the project. Naman
Group, a city-based de-
veloper, was the third
whose bid did not qual-
ify. The government
has sought a consoli-
dated net worth of a
minimum of Rs20,000
crore to choose the
winning bid, and is
likely to evaluate both
technical and finan-
cial eligibility before
awarding the project
to the highest bidder.
The winning bidder
is required to form a
special purpose vehi-
cle (SPV) for executing
the project, and a stag-
gered timeline of in-
vestments has also
been stipulated by the
state government. The
developer has to take
care of rehabilitation,
renewal, amenities
and infrastructure
components.
The Dharavi Redevelopment Project had been in limbo for several years due to its complexities. —FILE PHOTO
BIG NUMBERS
PROJECT COST : `23,000 CRORE
AREA COVERED : 250 HECTARES (APPROX.)
POPULATION : 7 LAKH (APPROX.)
TIMELINE : 7 YEARS
DHARAVI’S
HISTORY
Located on the
northernmost tip of
Mumbai, Dharavi
was one of the origi-
nal six koliwadas, or
fisherfolk settle-
ments, according to
the Slum Rehabilita-
tion Authority. As
the city expanded,
this one-time
swamp transformed
into a decrepit
urban sprawl on
government land
with a flourishing
economy. The plan
to give slum-
dwellers homes
was first mooted by
architect Mukesh
Mehta in 1997. The
process started in
2003-04, when the
state decided to
redevelop Dharavi
as an integrated
planned township,
and an action plan
was approved in
February 2004. The
government decided
to cross-subsidize
the cost of develop-
ment by allowing
developers to retain
part of the land to
be sold at market
prices outside the
slum rehabilitation
scheme.
BabaRamdevsays
sorryforremark
onwomen’sclothes
HC adjourns Deshmukh bail
petition hearing until Dec 02
Ex-cop Pradeep
Sharma’s bail plea
hearing adjourned
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court has ad-
journed the hearing on
the bail application of
“encounter specialist”
and former cop Pradeep
Sharma in
the Mansukh
Hiren mur-
der case. The
next hearing
on the matter
will be held on Decem-
ber 01. In its previous
order, the court had or-
dered Singh to present
CCTV footage of the al-
leged meeting between
Sharma and disgraced
cop Sachin Waze on
March 03, 2021.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bom-
bay High Court on
Tuesday adjourned
the hearing on the
bail plea of former
home minister Anil
Deshmukh in a case
of corruption and
misuse of power till
December 02.
Senior counsel
Vikram Chaudhari, ap-
pearing for Deshmukh,
sought an early hearing
as Deshmukh has been
in jail since November
last year. A single bench
of Justice MS Karnik
couldnotbeginthehear-
ing on Tuesday as Addi-
tional Solicitor General
Anil Singh, appearing
for the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI),
unabletoappearincourt
due to ill health.
Deshmukh (73) had
approached the HC after
a special CBI court re-
jected his bail plea last
month. He sought bail
bothonmedicalgrounds
and merits.
Mumbai (PTI): Yoga
guru Ramdev has
apologized for his re-
mark on women for
which the Maharash-
tra State Commission
for Women (MSCW)
had issued him no-
tice, the panel’s
chairperson Rupali
Chakankar said.
At an event where he
had shared the stage
with Amruta Fad-
navis—the wife of Dep-
uty Chief Minister Dev-
endra Fadnavis—last
week, Ramdev had said
women can look good in
anything, saree, salwar
kameez or “even when
they wear nothing”.
Taking cognizance
of the comment, the
MSCW had issued a no-
tice to Ramdev to which
he responded with an
apology. Chakankar in
a tweet on Monday
said: “Baba Ramdev
aka Ram Kisan Yadav
used lowly language
against women at a
public event in Thane.
The state commission
for women took cogni-
zance of it and sent
him a notice seeking
his response in two
days. The commission
has received his re-
sponse and he has
sought an apology for
his comments.”
Ramdev in his re-
sponse claimed his re-
marks were miscon-
strued and apologized
for the comments.
Mahila Congress members protest against Baba Ramdev over his
controversial remarks, in Mumbai on Nov 26. —PHOTO BY PTI
Former Maha Home minister
Anil Deshmukh —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Modifying its
status quo order, the Su-
preme Court on Tues-
day allowed the Mum-
bai Metro Rail Corp. Ltd
(MMRCL) to pursue its
application before the
Tree Authority seeking
permission for the fell-
ing of 84 trees for metro
car shed in Mumbai’s
Aarey region.
The court said that
the tree authority will
be at liberty to take an
appropriate decision on
MMRCL’s application
by imposing suitable
conditions.
The court observed
that the state govern-
ment’s decision to re-
store the location of the
car shed at Aarey, re-
versing the decision of
the previous govern-
ment to relocate the
same to Kanjurmarg,
was based on relevant
considerations.
A bench comprising
Chief Justice of India
DY Chandrachud and
Justice PS Narasimha
said, “It would be im-
possible for this court
to stay the decision at
the interim stage.”
Prima facie, the
Bombay HC holds as
valid the felling of the
trees as well as the de-
cision to locate the
metro car shed at Aar-
ey, the bench said.
It also noted that the
state considered sev-
eral factors, such as
the Central govern-
ment’s letter and ex-
pert committee re-
ports, while deciding
on restoration of Met-
ro car depot for Metro
line 3 at Aarey.
‘MMRCL can seek permission for felling of 84 trees’
Govt decision to
restore
Metro car shed
location to
Aarey was based
on ‘relevant
considerations’:
Supreme Court
AAREY METRO CAR SHED
Felling of trees at Aarey Colony in Mumbai has been opposed by environmentalists and activists.
He had said women
can look good in
anything, or even
‘when they wear
nothing’ at an event
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
FOR
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
AGAINST
—FILE
PHOTO
MASSIVE FIRE!
A large-scale fire that broke out on Tuesday behind IT Park in Mumbai’s Goregaon hills
area, where the Sanjay Gandhi National Park is located, could be seen from miles away.

First India Bureau
Nagpur: Even as 90
labourers worked in
shifts under the su-
pervision of 10 per-
sonnel to finish the
restoration work on
the foot over bridge
(FOB) at Balharshah
railway station, sen-
ior administrative-
grade railway au-
thorities have
launched an investi-
gation into the mis-
hap, officials said.
A 48-year-old woman
was killed and 12 per-
sons were injured as
they fell on a railway
track after a pre-case
slab of the FOB con-
necting platform 1 and
2 at Balharshah rail-
way station in Chan-
drapur district fell on
November 27.
The work on the
FOB—which was mon-
itored by the Railway
Protection Force
(RPF)—was completed
on Monday night and
the structure has been
opened for limited pas-
senger movement, an
official said.
All measures were
taken to ensure smooth
movement of trains,
the official said.
Central Railway of-
ficials tasked with the
inquiry say routine
maintenance and in-
spections of the
45-year-old FOB were
performed regularly,
and refused to com-
ment further.
The work on a new
bridge at the station is
expected to be complet-
ed by the end of Janu-
ary 2023. The bridge
will help ease the
movement of passen-
gers at the station, an
official added.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Authorities
have received more
than 11 lakh applica-
tions for the 18,331 va-
cant posts of consta-
bles, drivers, and State
Reserve Police Force
personnel, an official
said on Tuesday
.
The massive surge of
aspirants attempting to
log in to fill out the ap-
plication form caused
the government’s web-
sitetoslowdownconsid-
erably
, but the issue has
now been rectified, the
official stated.
The online applica-
tion process opened on
November 09, and
Wednesday is the last
day to apply
. So, many
job aspirants tried to
register on the website
until late at night on
Monday
, he said.
“TillnoonMonday
,we
received10.74lakhappli-
cations, but now we can
say we have already re-
ceivedmorethan11lakh
applications,” the offi-
cial said, adding, “It
seems we will get more
applications.”
First India Bureau
Jalna: Former Maha-
rashtra Health Minis-
ter, Rajesh Tope, on
Tuesday alleged the
state government is
not serious in tackling
the measles outbreak.
He claimed 14 children
have died due to mea-
sles in the state so far,
but the government is
not doing enough.
“Healthcare is the
prime responsibility of
the state, which should
wake up from its slum-
ber,” he said in Jalna.
Tope, who was the
health minister in the
previous Maha Vikas
Aghadi (MVA) govern-
ment, suggested the
government form task
forces, speed up the vac-
cination programme
and spread awareness
about measles.
Mumbai reported 11
fresh cases of the viral
infection and one sus-
pected death, said a
Brihanmumbai Munic-
ipal Corporation
(BMC) official.
The latest additions
take the infection tally
to 303 so far this year.
There have been eight
of confirmed deaths
due to measles and
three deaths in in which
measles is suspected to
be the cause of death.
The BMC has said
1,34,833 children in the
age group of nine
months to five years will
receive the additional
dose (special dose) from
December 01.
MAHARASHTRA
03
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Taking
cognizance of media
reports that several
minor girls have ac-
cused the director of
a private shelter
home in Nagpur of
sexual exploitation,
the National Human
Rights Commission
(NHRC) has issued no-
tices to the Maha-
rashtra government
and the Director-Gen-
eral of Police, offi-
cials said on Tuesday.
“Prima facie, it is ap-
parent that the district
authorities concerned
have ‘failed’ to conduct
proper supervision at
the shelter home,
which is being run
within their jurisdic-
tion,” the NHRC said in
a statement.
Harshal More was
arrested after a 14-year-
old girl filed a com-
plaint of rape against
him last week. A case
has been registered
against him under the
Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences
Act and the Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act.
Since then, at least
five more residents of
the Gyandeep Gurukul
Adhar Ashram shelter
home for girls—includ-
ing four minors—have
told the police that
they were also sexual-
ly exploited by the
28-year-old who was in
charge of running the
institution meant to
protect them.
“These media re-
ports, if true, raise the
very serious issue of
human rights viola-
tions,” the NHRC said,
adding that it has is-
sued notices to the chief
secretary and the direc-
tor general of police,
seeking a detailed re-
port within six weeks.
The Commission has
also sought to know if
the victim, especially
the minor ones, were
provided with any
counselling.
Further, the NHRC
has also asked PN Dix-
it, the commission’s
Special Rapporteur for
Maharashtra, to in-
spect the shelter home
located in Mhasrul and
submit a detailed re-
port within two
months. This report is
expected to cover the
safety, security, and
vulnerability of the in-
mates, as well as details
on their food, habita-
tion, health and wel-
fare, and measures be-
ing taken to improve
their living standards.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A local
couple has moved
the Bombay High
Court seeking direc-
tion to the state gov-
ernment to set up a
district surrogacy
board as per provi-
sions of the Surro-
gacy (Regulation)
Act, 2021, and to
process registra-
tions of fertility
clinics in Mumbai.
A division bench
headed by Justice SV
Gangapurwala on
Monday sought the
government’s re-
sponse to the plea and
posteditforhearingon
December 12.
As per the petition,
the husband and wife,
both in their 40s now,
got married in 2016.
The woman has been
suffering from diabe-
tes and other related
ailmentssinceayoung
age. She failed to con-
ceive following which
they approached vari-
ousfertilityclinicsand
experts, but it did not
result in pregnancy
.
According to the
plea, the couple then
decided to go for sur-
rogacy
, but learnt that
not a single clinic has
received registration
for surrogacy yet.
The plea claimed de-
spite there being a law
pertaining to surroga-
cy and Assisted Repro-
ductive Techniques
(ART), no clinic in
Mumbai is allowed to
process surrogacy ap-
plications. Even the
district surrogacy
board is yet to be set
up, it added.
“Prohibiting the pe-
titioners from under-
going ART procedures
would be against the
fundamentalrightsen-
shrinedunderArticles
14 and 21 of the Consti-
tution of India,” the
plea said.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: According
to a report by the
state Education De-
partment, around
19.5 lakh students in
Maharashtra do not
have Aadhaar cards
and nearly 59 lakh
face related problems
in the student regis-
tration process, Sys-
tematic Administra-
tive Reforms for
Achieving and Learn-
ing by Students
(SARAL) for govern-
ment and aided and
unaided schools.
The data was collect-
ed ahead of the teacher
approvalprocess,where
posts of teachers allot-
ted to each school are
decided based on the
number of students en-
rolled. Students with
valid Aadhaar cards are
considered enrolled.
The data revealed
that about 91% of stu-
dents have an Aadhaar
enrollment, of which,
18% is invalid. Of the
total 2,33,13,762 chil-
dren enrolled in gov-
ernment and aided
schools across Maha-
rashtra, 19,55,515 do
not have Aadhaar
cards. Out of the
2,13,58,247 children
who have Aadhaar
cards, 40,01,250 are in-
valid, which means
their enrollment will
not be counted.
The registration of
students carried out by
teachers every year us-
ing the students’ Aad-
haar numbers every
year is mandatory for
all government, aided,
and unaided schools.
According to a sen-
ior official from the
Education Depart-
ment, an Aadhaar card
is mandatory for stu-
dents to avail of bene-
fits such as mid-day
meals, textbooks,
school uniforms and
many more. From Jan-
uary 2023, students,
who are registered on
the portal with an Aad-
haar card will only be
able to avail of the mid-
day meal scheme.
There is a possibility
that these students will
be deprived of these
benefits due to Aad-
haar-related issues.
Meanwhile, the edu-
cation department is-
sued a circular on No-
vember 27, giving a
deadline of December
03 to schools for mak-
ing Aadhaar available
to students not having
unique identification
cards.
Students with errors
in their information
have been given a dead-
line of December 10 to
rectify the errors and
students with invalid
Aadhaar cards can up-
date their data or ob-
tain Aadhaar by De-
cember 20, according
to the circular.
UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION
Enrollment under Aadhaar is
mandatory for all government,
aided and unaided schools
19.5L Maha school students without Aadhaar cards, report says
Out of 2,33,13,762 children enrolled in govt and aided schools across
the state, 19,55,515 do not have Aadhaar cards. —FILE PHOTO
NHRCnoticetogovt,DGPover
sexualabuseatshelterhome
Five girls accused director of private institution of exploitation
after 14-year-old inmate filed rape complaint against him
DETAILED REPORT
The office of the National Human Rights Commission. —FILE PHOTO
CouplemovesHCover
districtsurrogacyboard
Prohibiting ART procedures would be against the
fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, the plea
says. —FILE PHOTO
No clinic in
Mumbai has the
authorization to
even process
surrogacy
applications
11L aspirants apply to fill
18.3K posts in Maha police
Govt not serious in tackling measles: Tope
The last date to apply for posts of constables, drivers, and State
Reserve Police Force personnel is Nov 30. —FILE PHOTO
BMC has surveyed 53,66,144 houses so far. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Palghar: A police
naik and a consta-
ble have been ar-
rested for taking a
bribe of Rs10,000,
Anti-Corruption
Bureau officials
said on Tuesday.
The duo, posted at
the Palghar railway
police station, had al-
legedly demanded
the money from a
person to allow the
transportation of
banned tobacco
products, Deputy Su-
perintendent of Po-
lice (ACB- Palghar)
Navnath Jagtap said,
adding that the ac-
cused were nabbed
red-handed on Mon-
day after the person
filed a complaint.
The two cops are fac-
ing charges under
the Prevention of
Corruption Act, the
official said.
2 cops held for corruption
Ex health min urges
govt to speed up
inoculations, 14 kids
have died so far
FOB restored after accident, Rly launches inquiry
The bridge was restored Monday night, and opened to limited
foot traffic. —PHOTO BY PTI
The poor handling of Aadhaar
card services has caused several
errors in the names of students
and parents, date of birth, address, as well
as other personal information.
—Mahendra Ganpule,
Spokesperson, Maharashtra State Principals’ Federation

PERSPECTIVE
04
BUILDING OF A SHOWDOWN
s the executive
and judiciary
heading for a
s h o w d o w n ?
Both sides have
exchanged harsh words on
the process to be adopted
for appointment of judges.
The Centre argues that the
collegiumsystemisopaque
and “alien to the Constitu-
tion”, while the Supreme
Court’s argument is that
the National Judicial Ap-
pointments Commission
Act, which the government
wants implemented, was
struck down by a majority
verdict of a Constitution
bench hence was not rele-
vant. The Centre appears
in no mood to follow that
verdict.
Law Minister Kiren Riji-
ju, who has been critical of
the collegium system for
appointment of judges,
firedthefirstsalvoafterthe
Supreme Court blamed the
Centre for sitting over
names recommended by
the collegium. “The Centre
is frustrating the appoint-
ment process of judges in
higher judiciary by not
clearing names recom-
mended by its collegium”.
Warning the Centre to re-
solve the issue and “not
force it to take decision on
the judicial side”. Rijiju’s
response further irked the
court. Rijiju said, “Never
say that the government is
sitting on the files, then
don’t send the files to the
government, you appoint
yourself,youruntheshow.”
The exchange did not
stop here. Justice SK Kaul
of the Supreme Court re-
torted, “Let them give the
power. We have no diffi-
culty…when somebody
high enough says let them
do it themselves, we will do
it ourselves, no difficulty”.
On Monday Justices Kaul
and AS Oka urged the gov-
ernment’s law officers to
ensure that the law laid
down by the apex court for
judges’ appointment is fol-
lowed. This may not be the
end of the story
.
I
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
For whatever things were written before
were written for our learning, that we
through the patience and comfort of the
Scriptures might have hope. —Bible
he Supreme Court last
week had questioned the
“haste” and “tearing hur-
ry” in appointing Arun
Goel as Election Commis-
sioner. The Centre had ve-
hemently resisted the ob-
servations, with the attor-
ney general asking the
court to “hold its mouth”
for a while and look into
the issue in entirety
.
At the outset, a five-
judge Constitution bench
headed by Justice K M Jo-
seph perused the Centre’s
original file pertaining to
Goel’s appointment as EC,
and said, “What kind of
evaluation is this? Al-
though, we are not ques-
tioning the merits of Arun
Goel’s credentials but the
process.”
As the bench questioned
the “lightning speed” with
which Goel was appointed
as Election Commissioner
andalsothathisfiledidnot
even move within depart-
mentsfor24hours,theCen-
tre through Attorney Gen-
eral Venkataramani vehe-
mentlyurgedthebenchnot
to make observations with-
out looking into the entire
issue pertaining to the ap-
pointment process.
During the hearing, law-
yer Prashant Bhushan
tried to make submissions
before the bench while the
Attorney General was
speaking. “Please hold
your mouth for a while,”
the top-most law officer
had told Bhushan.
The Supreme Court re-
served its verdict on a
batch of pleas seeking a
collegium-like system for
the appointment of ECs
and the Chief Election
Commissioner and asked
the parties to file written
submission in five days.
Justice Ajay Rastogi,
who is also a part of the
bench, told Venkatarama-
ni, “You have to listen to
the court carefully and an-
swer the questions. We are
not on individual candi-
dates but on the process.”
The Attorney General
said he is bound to answer
the questions of the court.
The Supreme Court said
the 1985-batch IAS officer
got voluntary retirement
from service in a single
day, his file was cleared by
the Law Ministry in a sin-
gle day, a panel of four
names were put up before
the Prime Minister and
Goel’s name got the nod
from the President within
24 hours.
The bench, which also
comprised Justices Anir-
uddha Bose, Hrishikesh
Roy and CT Ravikumar,
said none of the four
names in the panel were
“carefully hand-picked”
by the law minister so that
they could complete a six-
year tenure.
Venkataramani said
that there is a mechanism
and criteria for selection
and there cannot be a sce-
nario where the govern-
ment has to look back at
everyofficers’ trackrecord
and ensure that he com-
pletes a six-year tenure.
Under the Election Com-
mission(Conditionsof Ser-
vice of Election Commis-
sionersandTransactionof
Business) Act, 1991, an
Election Commissioner
can have a tenure of six
years or up to the age of 65,
whicheverisearlier.Speak-
ingonArunGoel’sappoint-
ment, the Attorney Gener-
al said his profile is impor-
tant and not the voluntary
retirement matter which is
being made an issue.
The bench said the 1991
Act says that the Election
Commissioner’s tenure is
of six years and the gov-
ernment has to ensure that
the person who holds the
post completes the stipu-
lated period. The Apex
Court said it is “strug-
gling” to find the reasons
and objects on how the law
minister selected a panel
of four names who were
not going to complete the
stipulated six-year tenure.
OnlastWednesday
,Arun
Goel’s appointment as an
Election Commissioner
cameunderthescrutinyby
the top court which had
sought from the Centre the
originalrecordspertaining
to his appointment for pe-
rusal, saying it wanted to
know whether there was
any “hanky panky”.
The Apex Court, which
had rejected the Centre’s
objections to its order for
producing the original file,
had said it wanted to know
whether everything was
“hunky dory” in the ap-
pointment process as
claimedbythegovernment.
On November 19, Arun
Goel, a Punjab cadre IAS
officer, was appointed as
election commissioner.
Goel would be in line to be
the next CEC after incum-
bent Rajiv Kumar demits
office in February 2025.
His total tenure in the
Election Commission
would be over five years.
He will join Rajiv Ku-
mar and Election Commis-
sioner Anup Chandra Pan-
dey on the poll panel. Arun
Goel was the secretary in
the Ministry of Heavy In-
dustries till recently and
his voluntary retirement
came into effect on No-
vember 18. He has also
served in the Union cul-
ture ministry
.
The bench said since
1990, voices have been
raised from various quar-
ters and once, veteran BJP
leader LK Advani had
written for a collegium-
like system for constitu-
tional bodies, including
election commissioners.
The top court also termed
the exploitation of the “si-
lence of the Constitution”
and the absence of a law
governing the appoint-
ments of ECs and CECs a
“disturbing trend”.
ThecourtflaggedArticle
324 of the Constitution,
which talks about the ap-
pointment of election com-
missioners,andsaiditdoes
not provide the procedure
for such appointments.
Moreover, the article had
envisaged the enactment
of a law by Parliament in
this regard, which has not
been done in the last 72
years. The court also noted
that since 2004, no CEC has
completed his six-year ten-
ure and during the 10-year
rule of the UPA govern-
ment, there were six CECs
and in the eight years of
the NDA government,
therehavebeeneightCECs.
On November 17, the
Centre had vehemently
opposed a batch of pleas
seeking a collegium-like
system for the selection of
CECs and ECs, contending
that any such attempt will
amount to amending the
Constitution.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
NEW EC APPOINTMENT: SC ASKS CENTRE
WHY THE ‘HASTE’ ‘LIGHTNING SPEED’
T
Top Court last week
had questioned the
“haste” and “tearing
hurry” in appointing
Arun Goel as
Election
Commissioner. Centre
had vehemently resisted
the observations, with
the attorney general
asking the court to
“hold its mouth” for
a while and look into
the issue in entirety.
Bench, which also
comprised Justices
Aniruddha, Hrishikesh
Roy and CT Ravikumar,
said none of 4 names
in panel were
“carefully hand-
picked” by law min
so that they could
complete 6-year
tenure
APEX COURT OBJECTS TO LAW MINISTER
RIJIJU’S REMARKS ON COLLEGIUM SYSTEM
Apex Court bench of SK Kaul and Abhay S Oka objected to Union Law Minister
Kiren Rijiju’s remarks that the government is not sitting on files recommending
the appointment or transfer of judges. “Never say that the government is sitting on
the files. Then don’t send the files to the govern-
ment, you appoint yourself, you run the show then,”
Rijiju had said. Justice Kaul said on Monday, “When
someone high enough says that..it should not have
happened…Mr [attorney general] I have ignored all
press reports, but this has come from somebody
high enough also. With an interview… I am not
saying anything else…” The judge, who is junior
only to CJI in seniority, asked AG R Venkataramani
to “resolve” the issue, according to Bar and Bench,
adding, “Don’t make us take a judicial decision [to ensure that files are cleared].”
Over the past few months, Rijiju has taken repeated swipes at the collegium system.
ARTICLE 324 OF THE
CONSTITUTION TALKS
ABOUT APPT OF ECs
Supreme court flagged Article 324 of the
Constitution, which talks about the ap-
pointment of election commissioners, and
said it does not provide the procedure for
such appointments. Moreover, the article had
envisaged the enactment of a law by Parlia-
ment in this regard, which has not been done
in the last 72 years. The court also noted that
since 2004, no Chief Election Commissioner
has completed his six-year tenure and during
the 10-year rule of the UPA government, there
were six Chief Election Commissioners and in
the eight years of the NDA government, there
have been 8 Chief Election Commissioners.
Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp
Even though the Prime Minister
@narendramodi’s government
is giving money for houses
in the housing scheme, West
Odisha has been neglected in
the allocation of houses. The
Modi government has provided
toilets in Swachh Bharat Yojana, money to farmers
in Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana, piped water to
every house, and gas in Jwarja Yojana.
TOP TWEETS
Bhupender Yadav @byadavbjp
Met with Karnataka Chief
Minister Shri @BSBommai
ji today. We spoke in
detail about several issues
concerning the sustainable
development of the state.
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 203 l RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701.
Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057. Phone 022-46031417. Editor-In-Chief:DrJagdeeshChandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
ROBIN ROY
The writer is Senior Journalist and
former Managing Editor, First India
LAW MINISTER KIREN
RIJIJU, WHO HAS BEEN
CRITICAL OF THE
COLLEGIUM SYSTEM
FOR APPOINTMENT OF
JUDGES, FIRED THE
FIRST SALVO AFTER
THE SUPREME COURT
BLAMED THE CENTRE
FOR SITTING
OVER NAMES
RECOMMENDED BY
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MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2022 05

06
INDIA
Shamsher Singh
New Delhi: After Mall-
ikarjun Kharge was ap-
pointed as Congress
President, an interest-
ing development hap-
pened. Sonia Gandhi
andRahulGandhifound
place in the steering
committee formed by
the new Congress Presi-
dent Mallikarjun
Kharge, but the ques-
tion is whether both will
attend the first meeting
of this committee or
not? After stepping
down from the post of
president, Sonia Gandhi
is completely away from
everyday political ac-
tivities. In a way
, she has
retired as her health is
also not very good.
Therefore it is possible
that she may not attend
the steering committee
meeting. When Rahul
Gandhi was the presi-
dent, it happened maybe
once in a while that Ra-
hul had held a working
committee meeting and
Sonia did not attend.
But barring a few excep-
tions in the last 24 years,
Sonia has held all the
meetings.
Rahul Gandhi defi-
nitely used to remain
absent from many meet-
ings. But that is a thing
of the past. Now he has
become a serious and
round the clock politi-
cian. But right now he is
undertaking the Bharat
Jodo Yatra and there is
no news that he will
leave the trip and come
to Delhi to attend the
steering committee
meeting. Although he
had come to Delhi for
Kharge’s oath taking
ceremony
. But there is
no news about coming
to Delhi for the steering
committee meeting. It is
possible that he may
join this meeting
through video confer-
encing facility
. But if
both Sonia and Rahul
are not in the meeting
then it will be a big deal
andthenthewholestage
will be in the hands of
Kharge. Priyanka Gan-
dhi Vadra will definitely
participate in the meet-
ing but she usually re-
mains silent in such
meetings. That’s why
there is a need to keep
an eye on the December
4 meeting.
Will Sonia-Rahul attend the Dec 4 steering committee meeting?
CHANGES IN CONGRESS
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi Mallikarjun Kharge. —FILE PHOTO
Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi find place in
steering committee formed by Kharge, now
question is, whether they will attend this?
Campaigning ends for first phase of Gujarat polls; Shah attacks Congress
First India Bureau
Kheda: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on
Tuesday alleged that
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi used to warn
people against taking
the Covid-19 vaccine
terming it `Modi vac-
cine’, but later got vac-
cinatedhimself secretly
.
Addressing a cam-
paign rally in poll-
bound Gujarat, he also
said that when he intro-
duced the bill for abro-
gating Article 370, op-
position leaders began
to shout like crows in
Parliament.
“When Congress
leaders were busy do-
ing politics during the
pandemic, Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
worked hard to keep the
people of Gujarat safe,”
he added. Modi, as
chief minister, estab-
lished peace in Gujarat,
Shah said. “In Gujarat,
Congress did nothing
except making Hindus
and Muslims fight each
other. The BJP govern-
ment eliminated riots
in Gujarat. Such riots
benefit neither Hindus
nor Muslims. Such vio-
lence only hinders de-
velopment,” the Union
minister said.
Shah was speaking at
Thasra town in Kheda
district where voting
for the Gujarat Assem-
bly elections will be
held on December 5, in
the second phase.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah waves at his supporters while
addressing rally in Kapadvanj, Gujarat on Tuesday.
JP Nadda during the road show in Bhavnagar West on last day
of campaigning for the phase 1 Gujarat Elections on Tuesday.
Rahul gan-
dhi used to
warn people
against vaccine say-
ing do not take `Modi
vaccine’ and it could
harm you. But thank-
fully, no one takes him
seriously nowadays.
—Amit Shah,
Union Home Minister
NADDA: CONG,AAP LIKE QUAILS,WILL
FLY AWAY AFTER DESTROYING CROPS
Ahmedabad: BJP president J P Nadda on
Tuesday said the opposition Congress and
Aam Aadmi Party were like quails who destroy
standing crops and fly away. The BJP was here
to stay, he said at a rally in tribal-dominated
Devgadh Baria town of Dahod district where
voting will be held on December 5 in the sec-
ond phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections.
“Parties like AAP and Congress emerge during
the polls, and then disappear. The people of
Gujarat must not give opportunity to those
who seek votes by making misleading claims.
They are like quails. As soon as the crop gets
ready, quails come, and fly away after eating
away the entire crop,” said Nadda. Both Con-
gress and shed “crocodile tears” for tribals but
did nothing for them for 70 years, he alleged.
‘DOYOUHAVE100HEADS
LIKERAVAN?’,ASKSKHARGE
New Delhi (ANI): Days
after PM Narendra Modi
clapped back at a Con-
gress leader’s “aukat”
comment, the party’s
new chief Mallikarjun
Kharge has delivered a
new controversy for the
party
, just before the Gu-
jarat election, by target-
ing PM with a “Ravan”
reference.
The BJP has accused
Kharge of “insulting Gu-
jarat’s son” repeatedly
.
Kharge made the com-
mentswhileaddressinga
rally in Ahmedabad
ahead of polls next
month.“ModijiisPMbut
forgetting his work, he
keeps campaigning in
corporation elections,
MLA elections, MP elec-
tions, and everywhere
all the time he’s talking
about himself” Kharge
said. “How many times
do we see your face? How
manyformsdoyouhave?
Do you have 100 heads
likeRavan?”Khargesaid,
drawing laughter and ap-
plausefromhisaudience.
“Is Modi going to come
and work at municipali-
ty
,” Kharge asked.
MinisterThakurschoolsmedia
overreportingonterrorattacks
G-20: India plans mega 200
meetings across fifty cities
Earthquake of 2.5
magnitude jolts
Delhi, 3rd in 20 days
New Delhi (PTI): An
earthquake of magni-
tude 2.5 struck 8km west
of Delhi on Tuesday
night at 9.30pm, Nation-
al Center for Seismolo-
gy said. The quake
struck at a shallow
depth of 5km.
However, there were
no reports so far of any
injury or damage to
property
. Tremors were
felt across the national
Capital. This is at least
the third earthquake to
hitDelhiinthelastdays.
New Delhi (ANI): India
will be hosting over 200
meetings across the na-
tion in 50 cities as New
Delhi is set to assume
the Presidency of the
G20 for one year from
December 1, 2022, to No-
vember 30, 2023, accord-
ing to sources.
India will assume the
presidency of the
Group of 20 (G-20), the
alliance of 19 major
economies and the Eu-
ropean Union on De-
cember 1st of this year.
Asperthesources,the
meetings will take place
in less explored parts of
country at very exotic
locations of India.
PM Modi’s vision is
to connect all districts
and blocks with G-20 so
that the message will
reachtomassesthrough
Jan Bhagidari initia-
tives. India will also
light up 100 monuments
on Dece 1st with the
G-20 logo as the country
officially takes the pres-
idency of the grouping.
New Delhi (PTI): Infor-
mation and Broadcast-
ing Minister Anurag
Thakur on Tuesday ad-
vised caution while live
reportingterrorattacks,
saying it should not pro-
vide clues to attackers
and their ill motives.
“Media needs to re-
port with responsibility
in the case of earth-
quakes, fire and more
importantly terrorist
attacks. Media must en-
sure that any live re-
porting in case of ter-
rorist attack should not
provide clues to the at-
tackers and their ill mo-
tives,” Thakur said
while addressing the
Asia-Pacific Broadcast-
ing Union (ABU) Gen-
eral Assembly here.
While the speed with
which information is
transmitted is impor-
tant, accuracy is even
more important and
should be primary in
the minds of communi-
cators,Thakursaid.The
Union minister said
maintaining public
trust should be the high-
est guiding principle for
responsible media or-
ganisations. Thakur
also credited the media
for coming to the aid of
those stuck at home dur-
ing the COVID-19 pan-
demic, saying it con-
nected people with the
outside world.
IN THE
COURTYARD
DRAMA ERUPTS AS
COPS DETAIN YS
SHARMILA IN HYD
ON 7th DAY OF BJY IN
MP, RAGA REACHES
MAHAKALESHWAR
WOMEN SQUAD OF BSF SHOOTS DOWN
DRONE ALONG INDIA-PAKISTAN BORDER
NIA RAIDS 20 PLACES
AFTER INFO GIVEN BY
LAWRENCE BISHNOI
Hyderabad: Hyderabad
Police on Tuesday eve-
ning arrested YSR Tel-
angana Party chief and
Andhra Pradesh CM YS
Jagan Mohan Reddy’s
sister YS Sharmila
along with her six as-
sociates in connection
with a protest outside
Telangana chief minister
K Chandrasekhar Rao’s
residence. Earlier today,
the police had towed
away a car with YS
Sharmila sitting inside
and detained her.
Indore: Rahul Gandhi’s
Bharat Jodo Yatra headed
for Ujjain from Sanwer, In-
dore on the seventh day of
its Madhya Pradesh leg on
Tuesday. Gandhi and other
Congress leaders includ-
ing former CM Digvijaya
Singh, ex-parliamentarian
Prem Chand Guddu were
seen walking briskly in the
morning after the yatra
marched towards Ujjain.
Amritsar: A women squad of the Border Security Force
has foiled a cross-border drug-smuggling attempt in
Amritsar district by shooting
down a drone, which was flying
from Pakistan into India with
3.1kg of narcotics, officials said
on Tuesday. The troops fired
at the drone at on late Monday
night after they noticed it enter-
ing the Indian territory near Chaharpur village, around
40km north of Amritsar city, they said.
New Delhi: NIA has
conducted raids at 20
spots across Del-
hi-NCR, Rajasthan,
Haryana and Punjab in
connection to the gang-
ster-terror nexus case.
The raids followed after
probing six gangsters,
including Lawrence
Bishnoi, Neeraj Bawana
and Tillu Tajpuria. The
six gangsters had
named several others
during questioning and
the NIA hunt is on to
find them.
V-P JAGDEEP DHANKHAR IN AGARTALA
CRUCIAL READ
NO COMPULSION
TO GET COVID VAX,
CENTRE TELLS SC
DEATH PENALTY TO
2 BY ODISHA COURT
FOR RAPING MINOR
RIJIJU CROSSED
‘LAKSHMAN
REKHA’: SALVE
New Delhi: The Centre
clarified to the Supreme
Court that there was
no legal compulsion to
get a Covid vaccination.
In an affidavit filed in
the Supreme Court, the
Centre submitted that
the concept of informed
consent is inapplicable
to the voluntary use of
a drug. “While the GoI
strongly encourages all
eligible persons to take
vax in public interest,
there is no legal com-
pulsion for the same,”
the affidavit read.
Paradip: Two persons
were sentenced to death
by a fast-track court in
Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur
on Tuesday for raping
killing an eight-year-old
girl. The incident hap-
pened in 2014 in Tirtol
PS area. The girl was
returning home from a
shop after buying choc-
olates when allegedly
four people took her to
a secluded spot, and
raped her. They killed
her after that, according
to the prosecution.
New Delhi: Displeased
over Kiren Rijiju’s recent
remarks on the run-ins
between the govt and
the judiciary over the
functioning of the Colle-
gium, Senior Advocate
Harish Salve said the
Union Law Minister had
crossed the ‘Laksh-
man Rekha’. Rijiju had
criticised the Supreme
Court’s observation that
the govt was sitting on
files relating to appoint-
ment of judges cleared
by Collegium.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with his wife Sudesh
Dhankhar and Tripura CM Manik Saha at a seminar on ‘A New
Horizon in the Development of Education’ and an exhibition on
‘Historical Cultural Heritage of Tripura’, at MBB College, in
Agartala on Tuesday.
‘ISIS-led terror still a threat, Ulemas have vital role’
New Delhi (PTI): Em-
phasising that cross-
borderandISIS-inspired
terrorism continues to
pose a threat, NSA Ajit
Doval said on Tuesday
that Ulemas have a “vi-
tal role” to play in coun-
tering radicalisation
and extremism by prop-
agating progressive
ideas and thought. In
his opening remarks at
a dialogue between the
Indonesian and Indian
delegationof Ulemaand
leaders of other faiths,
Doval said the coopera-
tion of the civil society
is essential in counter-
ing threat from ISIS-in-
spired individual terror
cells and returnees from
theatres like Syria and
Afghanistan.
“Cooperation of the
civil society is essential
in countering the threat
from ISIS-inspired indi-
vidual terror cells and
returnees from theatres
like Syria and Afghani-
stan,” Doval said.
KHARGE IGNITES ROW
Mallikarjun Kharge while addressing a rally in Gujarat.
Anurag Thakur
BJP SLAMS KHARGE FOR ‘RAVAN’ JIBE AT
PM,CONGCALLSITBJP’SANTI-DALITTIRADE
Congress president
Kharge’s “Ravan” barb
at PM Modi on Tuesday
triggered a slugfest with
the BJP
slamming it
as an insult
of every
Gujarati and
the Opposi-
tion party
calling the attack on its
leader “anti-Dalit tirade”.
BJP spokesperson Sambit
Patra asked voters in
Gujarat to do “100 per
cent voting for the son
of the soil” Modi to take
“revenge” in a democratic
manner for the “insult”,
as he invoked various ob-
jectionable remarks made
by Congress members
over the years against the
prime minister. BJP leader
Amit Malviya said, “Unable
to take the heat of Gujarat
election, pushed to the
fringe, Congress national
president Mallikarjun
Kharge loses control over
his words, calls PM Modi
“Ravan”. From “Maut ka
Saudagar” to “Ravan”,
Congress continues to
insult Gujarat and it’s son.”
Slamming Malviya, Con-
gress’ Pawan Khera asked
“why can’t you digest the
fact that a Dalit who has
worked his way up is the
elected prez of Cong”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
performing puja with rituals at
the famous Mahakal temple of
Lord Shiva in Ujjain, Madhya
Pradesh on Tuesday.
Rahul Gandhi once
advised people
against taking
Covid-19 vaccine,
says Amit Shah

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 52,837.00 101.00 0.19 (Per 10g)
SILVER 61,744.00 353.00 0.57 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 81.71 0.03 0.03
GBPINR 97.96 0.32 0.33
CURRENCIES
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: There’s al-
most a year left for the ar-
rival of iPhone 15 series
but the rumours and
speculations have been
endlessly pouring in. In
the latest news, the iP-
hone 15 series is said to
use Sony’s new camera
sensor that has photodi-
odes and transistors
placed in separate layers,
allowing for more photo-
diodes resulting in well-lit
photos. According to a re-
port, upcoming iPhone 15
series could use Sony’s
newest “state of the art”
image sensors. — FIB
IPHONE 15 TO COME
WITH NEW SONY
CAMERA SENSOR
New Delhi: A govern-
ment-appointed gas price
review panel, led by Kirit
Parikh, is recommending
a floor and ceiling price
for natural gas produced
from legacy fields of
state-owned firms for five
years to help moderate
CNG and piped cooking
gas rates. State producers
Oil and Natural Gas Cor-
poration (ONGC) and Oil
India Ltd (OIL) will be
paid a minimum or floor
price of $4 per million
British thermal unit and a
cap or ceiling price of
$6.5 as against the cur-
rent rate of $8.57, three
sources with knowledge
of the matter said. —PTI
ONGC GAS PRICE TO
BE CAPPED AT $6.5
FOR FIVE YEARS
New Delhi: The increased
partnership with the pri-
vate sector has led to a
substantial rise in defence
exports. India achieved
exports of defence items
and technology worth a
record `13,000 crores in
2021-22 and this figure is
likely to rise to `17,000
crores in 2022-23. Several
factors like rising demand,
greater innovation, more
conducive policies and a
maturing ecosystem in
defence and aerospace
manufacturing space are
leading to growth. — FIB
EXPORTS OF DEFENCE
ITEMS TO REACH
`17K CRORE IN FY23
New Delhi: Gold price fell
`101 to `52,837 per 10
grams on Tuesday amid
weak global trends, ac-
cording to HDFC Securi-
ties. In the previous trade,
the yellow metal had set-
tled at `52,938 per 10
grams. Silver also de-
clined `353 to `61,744
per kilogram. “Gold fell to
the lowest level in more
than a week as the dollar
rose from session lows
on hawkish comments
from members of the US
Federal Reserve reiterat-
ing their fight against in-
flation,” an official said on
Tuesday. —PTI
GOLD PRICE FALLS
`101; SILVER ALSO
DECLINES BY `353
*Rates till the edition went to print.
GO FIRST AIRLINE
SERVICES GET `400
CRORE UNDER ECLGS
New Delhi: Indian airline
services Go First on Tuesday
received an additional `400
crore under the
government’s
Emergency
Credit Line
Guarantee
Scheme (ECLGS). The airline is
likely to receive 16 new PW
engines in the coming weeks.
The no-frills carrier has at least
25 planes on the ground, mainly
due to the non-availability of
PW engines that power its
A320 fleet. Go First, which can
take up to `1,500 crore under
the scheme, has so far availed
at least a total of `800 cr. —FIB
KIA INDIA FORAYS INTO
CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED
CAR BUSINESS
New Delhi: Automaker Kia In-
dia on Tuesday said it has com-
menced certified pre-owned
business in
the country
with a plan to
have 30 sales
outlets by the
end of the year. The company
said its certified pre-owned car
business ‘Kia CPO’ intends to
provide a new age experience
to customers, in line with new
car buying experience, that
will allow them to sell, buy
or exchange pre-owned cars,
backed by ownership transfers
and customised finance
options. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
DIRECT SELLING INDUSTRY IN INDIA IS SHOWING
CONSISTENT GROWTH, SAYS IDSA
New Delhi: Indian Direct Selling Industry is showing consistent
growth. The size of the industry has grown rapidly to over $2 billion
last year. Indian Direct Selling Asso-
ciation (IDSA) is the association of the
direct selling companies in India and
is contributing to the growth and the
development of this sector. Worldwide,
the Direct Selling industry is estimated
to be over $180.5 billion. Indian industry
has grown at a CAGR of 15.7% over the past four years despite the
COVID-19 pandemic and is likely grown even more rapidly. —ANI
DIGITAL RUPEE TRIAL
STARTS TOMORROW
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Reserve
Bank of India will launch
the first pilot for CBDC
(Central Bank Digital Cur-
rency) or retail digital Ru-
pee (e`-R) on December 1,
it said on Tuesday.
“The pilot would cover
select locations in closed
user group (CUG) compris-
ing participating custom-
ers and merchants. The
e`-R would be in the form
of a digital token that rep-
resents legal tender. It
would be issued in the
same denominations that
paper currency and coins
are currently issued. It
would be distributed
through intermediaries,
i.e., banks,” the RBI said in
a statement.
Users will be able to
transact with e₹-R through
a digital wallet offered by
the participating banks
and stored on mobile
phones. Transactions can
be both Person to Person
(P2P) and Person to Mer-
chant (P2M), the central
bank said.
Payments to merchants
can be made using QR
codes displayed at mer-
chant locations.
RBI has also selected
eight banks for phase-wise
participation in this pilot.
The first phase will begin
with four banks: State
Bank of India, ICICI Bank,
Yes Bank and IDFC First
Bank in four cities. Later,
Bank of Baroda, Union
Bank of India, HDFC Bank
and Kotak Mahindra Bank
will join this pilot.
The pilot will initially be
rolled out in Mumbai, New
Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhu-
baneswar. It will be extend-
ed to Ahmedabad, Gang-
tok, Guwahati, Hyderabad,
Indore, Kochi, Lucknow,
Patna and Shimla. The
scope of pilot may be ex-
panded gradually to in-
clude more banks and loca-
tions, the RBI said.
RBI Governor Shakti-
kanta Das had earlier this
month said that the RBI
will follow up on the whole-
sale e-rupee pilot with a
similar trial on the retail
side this month itself. The
broader wish of the RBI is
to execute a full-fledged
launch of the CBDC “in the
near future”, Das said.
SALIENT
FEATURES
z Users will be able to
transact with e`-R through
a digital wallet offered by
the participating banks and
stored on mobile phones.
Transactions can be both P2P
P2M, the central bank said
z The first phase will begin
with SBI, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank
and IDFC First Bank in four
cities. Later, BoB, UBI, HDFC
Kotak Mahindra Bank will join
z Payments to merchants
can be made using QR codes
displayed at merchant
locations
New Delhi (PTI): India
will witness “significant
economic activity” over
the next decade on the
back of open network for
digital commerce (ONDC),
record aggregating system
and government measures
like GST, FAStag and e-way
bills, Infosys Technologies
co-founder and chairman
Nandan Nilekani said
on Tuesday
.
“...there are three big
things coming today
, which
will over the next decade
have more of an impact (on
India). I believe in the next
10 years India is going to
see significant economic
activity which is broad
based, inclusive and de-
mocratised,” he said.
The first is, ONDC sec-
ond is account aggregator
framework and the trans-
formation happening in
the logistics sector due to
government initiatives like
GST, Fastag and the e-way
bill, Nilekani said.
Nilekani said he expects
the ONDC — an initiative
of the government to pro-
mote an open platform for
all aspects of the exchange
of goods and services
through electronic net-
works — to begin soon.
Nilekani foresees
‘significant
economic activity’
New Delhi (PTI): Citing a
weak manufacturing sec-
tor coupled with the steep
margin compression, SBI
Research has pencilled in
the country’s GDP growth
for the second quarter at
5.8%, down 30 basis points
from average estimates.
In a report, SBI Research
headed by Soumya Kanti
Ghosh said corporate re-
sults, operating profit of
companies, excluding
banking and financial sec-
tor, degrew by 14% in
Q2FY23 as against 35%
growth in Q2FY22, though
the top line continued to
grow at a healthier pace.
Net sales grew by 28%,
while bottom line was
down by around 23% from
the year ago period.
Further, corporate mar-
gin seems to be under pres-
sure, as reflected in results
of around 3,000 listed enti-
ties, excluding banking
and financial sector, due to
higher input costs with de-
clining operating margins,
from 17.7% in Q1FY22 to
10.9% in Q2FY23. Given
this and the wide diver-
gence in market consensus
(6.1%) regarding Q2 GDP,
SBI sees the economy print-
ing in at 5.8%.
Q2 growth likely slowed to 5.8%: SBI
UK delivering on
new FTA with
India: Rishi Sunak
London (PTI): British
Prime Minister Rishi Su-
nak has reiterated the UK’s
commitment to a free trade
agreement (FTA) with In-
dia as part of the country’s
wider focus on enhancing
ties with the strategic Indo-
Pacific region and standing
up to competitors with
“robust pragmatism”.
The British Indian lead-
er reflected upon his herit-
age and committed to pro-
moting British values of
“freedom and openness”
around the world.
He also pledged to “do
things differently” far re-
moved from the so-called
“golden era” with China,
which he said poses a “sys-
temic challenge” to British
values and interests.
“Before I came into poli-
tics, I invested in business-
es around the world. And
the opportunity in the In-
do-Pacific is compel-
ling,” Sunak said.
“By 2050, the In-
do-Pacific will de-
liver over half of
global growth com-
pared with just a
quarter from Eu-
rope and North
A m e r i c a
combined.
T h a t ’ s
w h y
we’re joining the Trans-
Pacific trade deal, the
CPTPP, delivering a new
FTA with India and pursu-
ing one with Indonesia,”
he said.
India and Britain
launched negotiations for
the FTA in January with
an aim to conclude talks by
Diwali but the deadline
was missed due to a lack of
consensus on issues. The
focus of the FTA nego-
tiations is on reduc-
ing the barriers to
trade, cutting tar-
iffs, and support-
ing easier imports
and exports into
each other’s
m a r -
kets.
‘PROMOTING
BRITISH VALUES’
z Delivering his first major
foreign policy speech since
taking charge at 10 Downing
Street last month at the Lord
Mayor of London’s Banquet
on Monday night, the British
Indian leader reflected upon
his heritage and committed
to promoting British values
of “freedom and openness”
around the world
New Delhi (ANI): Fitch
Ratings expects telecom op-
erators to raise tariffs in
2023, given the focus on
profitability by the service
providers.
It said Vodafone Idea
needs to increase tariffs as
its EBITDA generation is
insufficient to meet finance
costs and to invest suffi-
ciently in capital expendi-
ture. The last time the tel-
ecom operators raised tar-
iffs was in late 2021.
“We have only one mar-
ket on an improving out-
look - India - compared
with two (India and Malay-
sia) in 2022. Only one mar-
ket - Sri Lanka - is on a de-
teriorating outlook. Con-
solidation is likely to con-
tinue in most markets as
weaker participants face
the choice whether to be
acquired or decline,” it
said in a report.
Telecom
operators may
raise tariffs in
2023: Fitch
Sensex, Nifty
settle at fresh
lifetime highs
New Delhi (PTI): The
Sensex and Nifty ended at
fresh lifetime peaks on
Tuesday amid a largely
firm trend in other Asian
markets and continuous
foreign fund inflows.
The 30-share BSE Sensex
gained 177.04 points or
0.28% to settle at 62,681.84,
its fresh record closing
high. The broader NSE
Nifty advanced 55.30 points
or 0.30% to end at 18,618.05,
its fresh record closing
high. Among the Sensex
pack, Hindustan Unilever,
Sun Pharma, Nestle, Dr
Reddy’s, Tata Steel, ICICI
Bank, Titan were gainers.
` FALLS 3 PAISE TO
CLOSE AT 81.71/$
New Delhi (PTI): The rupee
slipped 3 paise to close at 81.71
(provisional) against the US
dollar on Tuesday as rising crude
oil prices in the international
market weighed on forex market
sentiment. At the interbank
foreign exchange market, the
local unit opened strong at 81.58
but later slipped into the negative
territory. During the session,
it touched an intra-day high of
81.57 and a low of 81.74 against
the greenback. The local unit
finally settled at 81.71.
FUELPRICECUTHOPESRISEASCRUDEOILPRICESDROP
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A huge drop in
crude oil prices have rekin-
dled hopes in India of a
possible reduction in fuel
prices.
Benchmark Brent crude
fell to its lowest since Janu-
ary on Monday, with prices
dropping $2.6/barrel, or
more than 3%, to $80.97.
Apprehension over anoth-
er production cut by the
Opec+ grouping of oil ex-
porters, including Russia,
has contributed to the
sharp fall.
The fall in Brent crude
oil prices has brought down
the cost of ‘Indian Basket’
–orthemixof crudebought
by Indian refiners – to $82/
barrel from an average of
$112.8 in March.
Thisfallhasraisedhopes
of a fuel price cut in India
as the current petrol and
diesel prices reflect oil at
about $85/barrel.
Petrol and diesel prices
are supposed to be revised
daily but state-owned fuel
retailers have not exer-
cised their rights since
April 6. Rates have been on
freeze since then except on
May 22 when prices were
reduced following a cut in
excise duty
.
Prior to the April freeze,
petrol and diesel prices had
gone up by `10 per litre
each. Petrol currently costs
`96.72 a litre in the national
capital and diesel is priced
at `89.62.
If the price reduction
happens, this will be the
first cut since May 22 when
the govt cut excise duty on
the two fuels.
POSITIVE SIGNS
LOWEST SINCE
JANUARY 2022
z Benchmark Brent crude fell
to its lowest since January
on Monday, with prices
dropping $2.6/barrel, or
more than 3 percent, to
$80.97
z This fall has raised hopes
of a fuel price cut in India
as the current petrol and
diesel prices reflect oil at
about $85/barrel
New Delhi (PTI): In signs that the country’s civil aviation
sectorisrecoveringwell,domesticcarriersflewmorethan
4 lakh passengers for two consecutive days. After being
severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, air traffic is
picking up but is yet to reach the pre-COVID level when
the daily average passenger number was more than 4 lakh.
C u r r e n t l y, the average passenger number is
around 3.70 lakh and the same is expect-
ed to rise in the coming months
of December and January
.
DOMESTIC AIR TRAFFIC TOPS
4 LAKH-MARK FOR TWO DAYS

08
2NDFRONT
z Both Narendra Modi
and Amit Shah are
campaigning in Guja-
rat and addressing the
people in Gujarati.
Will that have any ef-
fect on the voters?
Of course. This is their
‘masterstroke’ as the
public connects with it.
I hear them addressing
the public in Gujarati
and I admire them
thinking that the elec-
tion has slipped from
the Opposition’s hands.
What ever public meet-
ing they address and
some meeting is ad-
dressed by those who
speak in Gujarati, tell
me whom will the voter
feel connected to more?
Unless the voter is the
staunch supporter of
the Congress or AAP or
any other party
. So this
is a ‘masterstroke.’ This
move has definitely
made an impact.
z Will the enormous
crowd that is visible
in PM’s rallies con-
vert into votes?
Definitely. I have ob-
served a difference in
the crowd that Naren-
dra Modi gets in his ral-
lies, and the crowd that
other leaders garner.
His crowd is a genuine
crowd. Others’ is a
crowd that the party as-
sembles from various
places, but that does not
convert into votes. But
perhaps he (Modi) is
God gifted or may be it
is his style, or his hard
work or commitment
that the crowd that as-
sembled to hear Modi
gets converted into
votes. That is why you
have 50,000 people at
places where the maxi-
mum capacity is to in-
corporate 30,000 or so.
Similarly, for Amit
Shah, the capacity may
be 10,000, but there
would be 15,000 people
attending the rally. So,
this crowd should be
considered as genuine.
z How despite the stat-
ure and terror of Amit
Shah, so many rebels
have jumped into the
electoral foray and
will they have any ef-
fect on the overall
equation for BJP?
They can hamper the
equation albeit only to a
limited extent. But they
will come to know the
real result of their deci-
sion only after the elec-
tion. Defying Amit Shah
and not acknowledging
his orders since he is a
senior leader is a techni-
cal mistake of these re-
bels. It so happens that a
person learns about the
mistake at the very
time, or after it shows
some result. Of course,
they will hamper par-
ty’s prospects in 32 as-
semblies. So, the party
also assigns the task re-
garding the ‘damage
control’ to 30-35 people.
Yes, there will be some
damage, but not in the
same proportions as
they had thought of
whentheystoodforelec-
tion, because the entire
election is focused on
Narendra Modi. They
won’t be able to hurt
much but like everyone
else, I am also surprised
with the bravery that
these candidates have
shown.
z So will the Con-
gress and AAP rebels
also result in a simi-
lar story for their re-
spective parties?
They too have rebels,
but they are irrelevant.
They are not going to
form the government.
They aren’t in the race.
They are dividing the
40% vote amongst
themselves. Only one
estimate claims that the
Congress will get 60
something seats, re-
maining all others have
denied; So giving only
25-30 seats to Congress
the rebels can cast
their affect on those
seats. But the rebels can
affect the BJP more
since their number is
greater in BJP while the
number of rebels in
Congress is not too
high. AAP may have
one or two rebels, but it
does not have any rele-
vance. So, as far as dam-
age caused by rebels is
concerned, it will be in
context of BJP
.
z In the entire cam-
paigning in Gujarat,
the Congress has
maintained an unu-
sual silence. Why is
it so?
They are afraid. Once
long back, Sonia Gan-
dhi had used the term
‘Maut Ke Saudagar’,
then some one else said
something else. These
days Jairam Ramesh
says something or Chi-
dambaram says some-
thing else. But now it is
said that they have been
told to keep off. They
don’t know what issues
to pick apart from what
they have said in their
manifesto. So, they are
cautious that as soon as
they say anything,
Modi-Shah will catch
them and a new contro-
versy would be created.
Thus, they have been
asked to remain silent
and keep off. And ac-
cording to me, that it is
a ‘wise strategy
.’
z What are the real is-
sues in this Gujarat
election? Also, what
are the issues that the
BJP has been making?
The BJP’s main issue
has always been
‘Hindutva,’ whether di-
rectly or indirectly.
Then the second issue it
raises is of the double
engine government,
and their third issue
has always been of de-
velopment, Remaining
all other issues are
based on a short time
span. Even in their
manifesto, they ad-
dressed issues of farm-
ers, youth, students etc.
But BJP’s basic key is-
sues are the ones which
have been aforemen-
tioned.
z And what does
the Congress’
manifesto say?
The Congress’ mani-
festo is based on prom-
ises. They do not want
to get into any contro-
versy. So, firstly they
promised OPS Scheme
which is given by Ashok
Gehlot. Based on this,
they are hoping to win
theelectioninHimachal
too. Here too they have
promised the same and
made it an issue. Then
they have promised em-
ployment to 10 lakh peo-
ple. Thereafter, bring-
ing the ‘Chiranjeevi
Scheme’ like Rajasthan
has been promised as
well. Then come free
electricity and women
centric schemes. So
major issues they have
addressed and prom-
ised are is OPS, employ-
ment and the ‘Chiran-
jeevi Scheme.’
z Talking about
promises, what has
AAP promised or
made into an issue?
AAP has only one
promise. They promise
everything to be free.
Free electricity, water,
education etc. And they
also say that they will
give everything for free
and cite the example of
Delhi and Punjab,
where they have actu-
ally implemented their
‘free’ agenda. It is a
separate issue that now
a debate has started in
the nation regarding
freebies.
z After Delhi and
Punjab, now AAP has
promised freebies in
Gujarat. What do you
think will be its effect?
It won’t have much ef-
fect. An effect can hap-
pen only in totality and
that is when the voters,
as a whole, become
‘game- changer.’ Now
that we have already
made an assessment
that these parties will
be restricted within 9
seats and other survey
claims not more than
15-20 seats. These is-
sues will perhaps bring
AAP to a few seats.
z So by that meas-
ure, do you think
BJP will taste victo-
ry in the New Delhi’s
MCD elections?
BJP is making its best
attempt to win the elec-
tions. It has got all its
Central Ministers and
Chief Ministers to cam-
paign there. But my
analyses is that it will
be difficult to bring
down AAP. They (BJP)
may come close to in
number of wards, but
AAP gets ruled out or is
routed, I don’t see that
happening. Astrologers
claim that though AAP
will not have any major
victory in Assembly
elections, but in local
body elections, AAP
cannot be ruled out.
z Then why is BJP’s
entire campaign fo-
cused on negative
propaganda on AAP?
Everything is fair in
love and war. Secondly,
what BJP has done, like
the videos and stings of
AAP, they are all genu-
ine. They can’t deny
that they haven’t taken
money. They cannot
deny that a person was
massaging their leader,
who has a rape case
against him, in jail.
They also can’t deny
that they sold their tick-
ets. So, it can be termed
as BJP’s negative cam-
paign on AAP, but it is
based on facts and is
logical as well.
z How do you analyse
the ‘Women Factor’
in these elections con-
sidering a lot of
women are now tak-
ing to active politics?
The factor is reasonable
and although it is not in
proportion with the
number of women in
society
, still the number
of active women in pol-
itics is reasonable. BJP
has fielded 17 female
candidates and Con-
gress has fielded 14,
while AAP has fielded
7, so there has been a
reasonable representa-
tion of Gujarati women
in these election.
z But if we look
closely, it seems that
the political parties
do not give that rele-
vance to women or to
put in another way,
they are not given as
many tickets as men?
There must be a tactical
or political reason for it.
Considering that all po-
litical parties eye wom-
en voters and introduce
schemesforthem.There
are talks of 50% reser-
vation,35%reservation,
laws are framed for
them and lots of other
steps are taken, but
whenitcomestoground
reality, I think, that the
parties do not get win-
ning candidates in good
numbers and hence
women do not get more
tickets. Look at Con-
gress, they brought the
slogan ‘Ladki Hoon Lad
Sakti Hoon’ during Ut-
tar Pradesh polls, but
they did not bring that
slogan to Gujarat. So,
everypartyhasthisrule
to give tickets according
to the representation in
their organisation.
z But luring the fe-
male voters is also im-
portant. So what are
the promises made by
all three parties?
You can’t ignore the fe-
male voters as they are
almost 48% i.e. almost
half of 4.90 crore total
votersin theState.Thus,
the parties will have to
bring populist schemes
like free education, free
gas cylinder, free elec-
tricity
,freescootyorfree
computers. These are
some of the things every
government and party
engages in.
z What is this ‘5P’
that is being heard in
the Gujarat election?
Narendra Modi brings
out a new miracle from
his hat every day. This
‘5P’ will be a success
and everyone is observ-
ing how successful it
will be. He gives a slo-
gan and that becomes
super hit. He gave the
slogan ‘Lets make Guja-
rat’ and that became
hit. Now he has given
this ‘5P,’ and that has
already become a hit
amongst the masses.
z Will the Morbi
bridge collapse re-
sult in any effect on
these elections?
There was a probability
that it could have cast
some effect, but BJP
handled the entire epi-
sode with utmost grit
and smartness. It could
not become an issue.
Secondly
. political par-
tieshavetheirowninter-
est. Some tried to make
it an issue and I read
that 132 people died, but
no party is ready to give
away its vote. Congress
has made an issue over
it and has said that 132
peoplehavediedandFIR
hasbeenregisteredthen
at least name the con-
tractor in the FIR or
formaJudicialCommis-
sion or do something
else in the matter. Chid-
ambaram said no one
apologised, no case was
registered and no one
resigned. But still Morbi
incidenthasnothadthat
big an effect, as much as
the people were hoping
it would have had. Then
BJP played a master-
stroke in this. The per-
son, who saved the peo-
ple, Kanubhai, the party
gave him a ticket. So,
Morbi has a moral influ-
ence, but I don’t think it
will become a major is-
sue in this election.
Modi: The country’s biggest crowd puller,
who has capacity to convert crowd into votes
Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Bharat24-Vision of New India and First India, CMD First India News, highlights what sets Modi led BJP
campaign apart from other parties in Gujarat, how the issues created by other parties have become inconsequential, what role rebels will play in hurting BJP and what
will be their political future post election. Dr Chandra also stresses that AAP may perhaps perform better in MCD elections than assembly elections and that the Morbi
bridge collapse incident was handled superbly by BJP due to which the Opposition parties have not been able to make an issue around it. Excerpts... (Part II)
During the show
#Modialltheway
trended top All-India
on Twitter
Dr Jagdeesh Chandra with (R to L) Astha Khandelwal, Poornima Mishra, Aditi Nagar, Pooja
Yadav, Shweta Raje, Amit Mishra, Kshama Tripathi and Manish Desai during The JC Show.
Modi’s crowd is a genuine crowd. Others’ is a
crowd that the party assembles from various
places, but that does not convert into votes. But
perhaps he (Modi) is God gifted or may be it is
his style, or his hard work or commitment that
the crowd that assembles to hear Modi gets
converted into votes. That is why you have
50,000 people at places, where the maximum
capacity is to incorporate 30,000 or so
YOU READ PART-1 ON NOVEMBER 29, 2022
When you forgive someone, it is
not condoning their behaviour
but moving on.
—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

n discrepancy
to the ‘every-
day smiley
catalogue girl’,
the model is
seen as
‘unique’ and
‘strong.’ She is typi-
cally described as
having an unusual
or ‘edgy’ look.
Everyone in the
field had a tough
time building
themselves as a
Model. From
being rejected
for a ‘not-so-
good person-
ality’ to wear-
ing the
crown of
First In-
d i a
Queen and donning the stage
with her charm and confi-
dence, Bhakti has proved that
she was born to conquer the
fashion world.
It is rightly said that one
should not mind their make-
up every time, but make up
their mind once in a while.
The 25-year-old diva showed
the world that she just does
not have good looks but
learned good books. She
shared, “My journey from be-
ing a student to being a fash-
ion designer was very hap-
pening and great, I always
dreamt about being an inspir-
ing artist and wanted to get
framed in a big bang poster to
make my parents and myself
proud”.
Bhakti’s inimitable style
transformation from fresh-
faced girl to modelling power-
house shook everyone, when
asked about her struggle the
crowned beauty said, “I
strongly believe that if you re-
ally desire something from
the heart then the whole uni-
verse will work towards get-
ting you that. From being re-
jected because of not so good
personality, I made sure to
give myself a chance and
work on myself and present
out there as a talented artist.
I am working as a stylist in a
production house for 4 years
and also realised that there
are many girls who have been
rejected for their looks. I pre-
sented myself the way I am
the way
, I wanted to show the
real me, my work, etc. I always
wanted to inspire other
dreamers. Rejections are mo-
tivation to the one who really
wants to achieve dignity and
success, and I wanted to be a
voice for those who think they
can’t do what they dream.”
The elegant queen further
said, “I am extremely grateful
to Dr Jagdeesh Chandra and
First India Queen for making
my dream come true, some-
thing great like this can only
be visualized by JC sir, he has
opened open the gates of op-
portunity for many deserving
girls like us.”
Bhakti Jani, the winner of First India Queen,
which took place on Friday, October 21 at the
Jade Ballroom of the Sahara Star in Mumbai,
shares her journey with City First
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
U
FIRST INDIA QUEEN
Jagdeesh Chandra along with Aditi Jaggi Rastogi felicitate Bhakti Jani
Jagdeesh Chandra along with Aditi Jaggi Rastogi
and Pearl Agarwal (Winner First Miss India 2021)
and the participants congratulate
Bhakti Jani on being crowned as the Winner
of First India Queen 2022
—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
MUMBAI, WEDNESDAY,
NOVEMBER 30, 2022

SUPER INDIANS RAJASTHAN CHAPTER
City First brings to you some more glimpses from the Super Indians Rajasthan Chapter organised by First India News
Rajasthan and Bharat24 News channel on Sunday at Lake City Udaipur. The lamp lighting of the program was done in five-star
Hotel Ananta in the presence of Dr Jagdeesh Chandra along with Assembly Speaker Dr CP Joshi, renowned film actor
Govinda, Rajasthan Foundation Commissioner Dhiraj Srivastava, Erstwhile Mewar royal family member Lakshyaraj Singh
Mewar, Chief Business Office and Strategic Advisor Manoj Jagyasi, Newly appointed Managing Editor of Bharat-24 Shamsher
Singh and First India News Editor Jinendra Singh Shekhawat and other dignitaries. During the event, actor Govinda conducted
panel discussions in three different sessions with experts from different fields and shared valuable information.
—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA
Jagdeesh Chandra lights the lamp with Dr CP Joshi, Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar and Govinda. Also seen are (L-R) Manoj Jagyasi, Shamsher Singh and Dhiraj Srivastava
Jagdeesh Chandra and Govinda enjoying the evening
Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar addressing the audience
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Dr Sameer Bhati, Dr Ajay Hardia, Bhavit Malhotra,
Manoj Jagyasi, Hardeep Bakshi, Gajraj Pagariya, Shreyans Mehta and Jawed Siddiqui
Jagdeesh Chandra addressing the audience
Jagdeesh Chandra with Dhiraj Srivastava and Govinda
Superstar Govinda being welcomed with a memento. Seen here are (L-R)
Jinendra Singh Shekhawat, Dhiraj Srivastava, Shamsher Singh Manoj Jagyasi
Vijendra Singh Solanki in conversation with Govinda
Jagdeesh Chandra with
Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar (L) and Govinda (R)
Dr CP Joshi addressing the audience
(L-R) Ashish Aman, Shaan, Megha Kaushik and Jinendra Shekhawat
Megha Kaushik Mahendra Singh Sisodiya along with his wife
Shamsher Singh addressing the audience
Govinda with (L-R) Mahendra, Pramod, Sachin, Bhuvnesh, Vijendra, Ashish, Tripti, Jinendra, Megha, Dhiraj, Dr Deepa,
Shamsher Singh, Bhavit, Manoj Jagyasi, Dr Rajendra, Jawed, Bheem, Manisha, Dr Ajay, Sarish, Nishant and Shyam Bihari
Standing (L-R) Sarish, Mahendra, Nishant, Rajeev, Kuldeep and Atul
Sitting (L-R) Shyam Bihari, Shamsher Singh, Manoj Jagyasi, Bheem Negi and Nitin Dhabu
Megha Kaushik in conversation with (L-R) Govinda, Dr Sameer Bhati, Dr MM Mangal, Dr Ajay Hardia and Dr Arvinder Singh
Dhiraj Srivastava addressing the audience Govinda and Gulabo Sapera share a moment of joy
10-11
ETC

12
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
he 53rd Inter-
national Film
Festival of In-
dia recently
concluded its
last day on
Monday, No-
vember 28. The closing
ceremony saw many
dignitaries giving their
concluding speeches,
including Nadav Lapid
who was the IFFI jury
head. But a statement
passed by him during
his speech has been
meeting with severe
backlash online.
The Israeli screen-
writer and filmmaker
criticised Vivek Agni-
hotri's 2022 film, The
Kashmir Files, calling
it propaganda. The
film is based on the
exodus killing of Kash-
miri Pandits in 1990
Kashmir.
Lapid, in his ad-
dress, said, We were,
all of us, disturbed and
shocked by the 15th
film: The Kashmir
Files. That felt to us
like propaganda, a vul-
gar movie, inappropri-
ate for an artistic com-
petitive section of such
a prestigious film festi-
val. I feel comfortable
to share openly these
feelings here with you
on stage. Since the
spirit of having a festi-
val is to accept also a
critical discussion
which is essential for
art and life.
Post the incident, Is-
rael's Consul General
to Mumbai Kobbi Sho-
shani took to Twitter
to write, I saw the
Kashmir file and met
the cast. I have a differ-
ent opinion than Na-
dav Lapid. After his
speech, I told Nadav
my opinion.
Fellow jury member,
Sudipto Sen reacted
to Lapid's remarks
and stated that the
comments made by
the jury head were
solely his personal
opinions. In the offi-
cial presentation of the
Jury Board to the Festi-
val Director and in the
official Press Confer-
ence, where we 4 juries
(the fifth jury had to
leave for her emergen-
cy) were present and
interacted with the
press, we never
mentioned any-
thing about our
likes or dislikes.
Both were our offi-
cial collective opinion.
As jurors, we are as-
signed to judge the
technical, aesthetic
quality and socio-cul-
tural relevance of a
film. We don't indulge
in any kind of political
comments on any film
and if it is done, it is
completely in a person-
al capacity - nothing to
do with the esteemed
Jury Board, the letter
said.
Vinod Ganatra, who
is the chairman of the
Jury Members of the
Indian Panorama (Fea-
ture Films), also react-
ed to the matter. He
said, If the jury talks
like this, then what
about Schindler’s List?
I strongly oppose and
condemn this jury’s
comment. I am also the
chairman of the fea-
ture jury and I feel that
it is insulting to India
and for a film like this.
Hindi film actor, Anu-
pam Kher who was part
of the film, too respond-
ed to Lapid's statement.
He took to Twitter to
post several images, in-
cluding one still from
the film that featured
him. Along with it, he
wrote a Hindi state-
ment that loosely trans-
lates to, No matter how
big the lie is, it's always
small in comparison to
the truth (sic).
He also gave his opin-
ion to ANI and said, If
the holocaust is right,
the exodus of Kashmiri
Pandits is right too.
Seems pre-planned as
immediately after that
the toolkit gang be-
came active. May God
give him wisdom.
GREETINGS!
A MOMENT TO CHERISH!
Dr Jagdeesh Chandra greeted Manoj Jagyasi, Chief
Business Officer Strategic Advisor, Bharat24- Vision of
New India, on the occasion of latter’s birthday. The former
reached his residence in Ahmedabad on Tuesday morning
and wished him good health success.
Leah Isadora Behn, the second daughter of Märtha Louise
of Norway, dances with her cavalier, Lakshraj Prakash,
the younger son of Diya Kumari of Jaipur, at le Bal des
Débutantes in Paris.
CONTROVERSY STIRS AS
CONTROVERSY STIRS AS
IFFI CONCLUDES
IFFI CONCLUDES
T
ADITI CHAVAN
cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in
A
lia Bhatt
is now
living her
best life
as a new mother.
After just dis-
closing the name
of her kid, the
actress was spot-
ted on November
29 making her
first public out-
ing in the city.
She was photo-
graphed by pa-
parazzi outside
the house of her
sister Shaheen
Bhatt, who cele-
brates her birth-
day today
.
When Alia ar-
rived at
Shaheen's resi-
dence, she was
spotted sitting in
her car. The ac-
tress was seen
wearing blue
baggy jeans and
a black T-shirt,
paired with gold-
en hoop earrings.
She tied her hair
in a neat bun.
C
hiranjeevi is
surely one of
the most cele-
brated artists in
the Indian film indus-
try right now. The ac-
tor is lovingly
called Master by
all his fans. Hon-
ouring his years
of work in revolu-
tionizing Indian cine-
ma, Master Chiran-
jeevi was bestowed
with the Indian Film
Personality of the
Year Award at the
53rdInter national
Film Festival of India
(IFFI).Inanemotional
speech, the star ex-
pressed his gratitude
to the film fraternity
and his fans. He men-
tionedthatsomerec-
ognitions are spe-
cial and this award
falls into that cate-
gory
. Chiranjeevi
also called himself a
slave of the Telugu
fans around the world
and mentioned that it
isbecauseof themthat
he has received this
honour.
T
he Padmashri
and four times
National Award-
winning actress
Kangana Ranaut has
signed yet another grand
entertainer. The actress
has signed up to play the
role of Chandramukhi.
The actress will be seen
playing the title role in
the iconic blockbuster se-
quel of Chandramukhi
called Chandramukhi 2,
Directed by P. Vasu. The
earlier version had Ra-
janikanth and Jyothika
Saravanan.
Kangana Ranaut will
be seen playing the role
of Chandramukhi, a
world-renowned dancer
in the King’s court who's
known for her dancing
skills and breathtaking
beauty.
Renowned Tamil Ac-
tor Raghava Lawrence
will be seen opposite
Kangana Ranaut is
believed to be a
huge cinematic
experience. Add-
ing curiosity is the
sketch made by cos-
tume designer Neeta
Lulla, an acclaimed
National award win-
ner for multiple films.
When contacted Nee-
ta Lulla mentioned,
To create a character
who is the epitome of
grace in every Adaa,
Her looks, her hair,
her stance and walk
exude and portray the
spirit of dance. To me
that is Chandramukhi.
The film is going to be
a beautiful yet challeng-
ing experience. I'm very
excited to be working
again with Kangana on
this project, her sheer
strength as an actor lies
in the ability to lose
herself to the character
she is playing. Can’t
wait to see what amal-
gamates in Chan-
dramukhi 2.
As per the source,
Kangana will start
shootings the first
schedule of the film in
the first week of De-
cember. The actress will
be taking a small break
from Emergency and
the second schedule of
Chandramukhi 2 will
commence in January
after Emergency wraps.
If sources are to be
believed Chandra-
mukhi 2 is produced by
one of the biggest pro-
duction houses Lyca
films who's recent re-
lease was PS1.
Sources close to Kan-
gana mentioned
Kangana is thrilled
to do her next Ta-
mil film after huge
acceptance for
Thalaivii. Talking
about her forthcoming
film, Kangana will be
seen in ‘Tejas’ essaying
the role of an air force
pilot and Emergency,
playing the role of for-
mer prime minister,
Indira Gandhi.
M
alad Masti,
an event that
was attended
by many cel-
ebs like Riteish Desh-
mukh and Genelia
Deshmukh, Varun
Sharma and Ganesh
Acharya at Inorbit
Mall on Tuesday. The
idea behind this event
is about how people
should step out and
meet friends, watch
new things and enjoy,
rather than just watch
things on their mobile
at home. The event is
allowing people to en-
joy and spend a good
weekend outside their
homes.
MLA Aslam Shaikh
said that the main aim
and message of the
eventthisyearrevolves
around child abuse. It
is important that peo-
plearemadeawareand
childrenshouldbepro-
tectedagainstevilforc-
es in society
.
The event was held
at Inorbit Mall, New
Link Road, Malad
west. This is the 5th
year of Malad Masti
and it is being sup-
ported by Gold Medal
Switches.
Varun Sharma,
Faisu Shaikh, sing-
ers Amit Gupta,
Brajesh Shandilya,
Mubeen Saudagar
Standup comedian
and Ganesh Acharya
interacted with the
crowd at the event.
More than 5,000 people
attended the event or-
ganised by MLA
Aslam
R
aazz Mahal starring Ridhiema Ti-
wari, Himanshu Soni and Neha Har-
sora is all set to premiere on Tuesday
at 8.30 PM on Shemaroo Umang.
While viewers are excited to decode the
mysteries of this suspenseful Mahal, Ri-
dhiema Tiwari recently spilt a secret about
her special connection with Dakini. The
actress revealed that she had been mani-
festing such a role right after her marriage
with Jaskaran Singh.
Women are mysterious-
ly intuitive and interest-
ingly most women stun
their partners by config-
uring even the oblivious.
Raazmahal on Shema-
roo Umang men-
tions tag line -
Dakini ke
Rahasya .
And he
says Duni-
yawalo aao
aakar mujhse
poocho, Dakini ke saare
Rahasya Mujhe pata hai
(he knows all of Daki-
ni's secrets) Tiwari
shared.
MOMMY
ALIA'S FIRST
APPEARRANCE
Kangana Ranaut
asChandramukhi
CHIRANJEEVI
HONOURED
Ridhiema Tiwari's
revelation
Malad Masti by MLA Aslam Shaikh
Poster of the film
Nadav Lapid
Anurag Thakur felicitates Master Chiranjeevi at IFFI
Aslam Shaikh, Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh
Alia Bhatt
Ridhiema Tiwari
Kangana Ranaut
Faisu Shaikh
Ganesh Acharya

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