01122022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

Why Pawar did nothing when
he was CM: Narayan Rane
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Union Minis-
ter Narayan Rane, on
Wednesday, targeted
NCP supremo Sharad
Pawar over the latter’s
remarks on the Maha-
rashtra-Karnataka bor-
der issue that have
gripped both states off
late. Rane questioned
when Pawar did noth-
ing on the matter when
he was Chief Minister.
“Sharad Pawar had
said that if Belgaum
and Karwar are needed
in Maharashtra, then
some villages of Maha-
rashtra should be given
to Karnataka in return.
He was CM of Maha-
rashtra four times and
was in power for two
and a half years. At
that time, he didn’t say
a word and did nothing
on the issue. But now
after joining the opposi-
tion party, he feels like
saying something every
day,” Rane said.
The union minister
said, “Sharad Pawar
may have his opin-
ion but the opin-
ion of Maharash-
tra is that Kar-
nataka should
not get even an inch of
space in Maharashtra,
and this is the firm
opinion of
t h e
BJP.”
Sharad Pawar may have his opin-
ion but the opinion of Maharash-
tra is that Karnataka should not
get even an inch of space in Maharashtra,
and this is the firm opinion of the BJP.
—Narayan Rane,
Union Minister for MSME
First India Bureau
Mumbai: For the last
few days, there has been
criticism against the
Maharashtra govern-
ment that big projects
have shifted from Maha-
rashtra to other states.
While the opposi-
tion, especially
the Thackeray
group, has
targetted the
ruling par-
ty on the is-
sue, the rul-
ing Shinde
group and
the BJP
have de-
nied the claims. It is be-
ing claimed by the Shin-
de group and the BJP
that all these projects
were taken out of the
state during the Maha
Vikas Aghadi govern-
ment.
In connection to this,
former minister and
Shiv Sena (Thackeray)
leader Aaditya Thack-
eray made a big claim in
a press conference held
in Mumbai on Wednes-
day wherein he read out
a letter received from
RTI in the press confer-
ence and claimed that
everything regarding
the Vedanta-Foxconn
project had been formal-
ised and only cabinet’s
approval was pending.
“If we protest, we are
called ‘Shembadi Po-
ram’. For the last sev-
eral days, a different
kind of enjoyment of
power is being shown
and the leaders do not
even give any answer.
The Agriculture Minis-
ter abuses women, and
no action is taken. No
help has reached the
farmers. There are only
declarations. Local trai-
tors of Dadar-Mahim
went to the police sta-
tion and opened fire but
no arrests have been
made so far,” said Aadi-
tya Thackeray
.
He further said, “The
Vedanta project has
gone to a less developed
state than Maharashtra
and these projects face
difficulties even in such
states. I came to know
from Twitter that the
Vedanta-Foxconn pro-
ject moved to Gujarat.
The projects which are
supposed to come to us,
goes to neighbouring
states. A project which
can be started in 2-3
years, takes 6-7 years.”
“The chief minister
and his deputy had
made announcements
in this regard but when
we raised the issue, we
were told that we are ly-
ing,” added Aaditya.
Amidst the press con-
ference, Aditya handed
over the letter written
by the Shinde govern-
ment for the MoU to the
Chairman of Vedanta
Foxconn. He said, “The
projectwassuretocome
to Maharashtra but
went to Gujarat.”
“I have a letter dated
September 5, 2022
which was written by
MIDC to the then CEO
of Vedanta-Foxconn
Anil Agarwal regard-
ing the MoU between
the government and Ve-
danta. This means eve-
rything was decided
and only the cabinet’s
approval was pending.
But this box govern-
ment is a fake govern-
ment,” said Aaditya.
I have a letter dated September 5, 2022
which was written by MIDC to the then CEO
of Vedanta-Foxconn Anil Agarwal
regarding the MoU between the government
and Vedanta.
—Aaditya Thackeray
GHOST OF VEDANTA-FOXCONN DEAL RETURNS AS AADITYA CITES RTI
‘Everything was in place, only cabinet approval was required’
PM NARENDRA MODI
TO ADDRESS 7 RALLIES
TODAY, TOMORROW
GUV DEVVRAT PICKS
UP BROOM LIFTS
LITTER AT VIDYAPITH
Governor Acharya
Devvrat sweeping floor
with a broom at Gujarat
Vidyapith on Wednesday.
Shashikant Sharma
Ahmedabad: The Governor
of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat
surprised everyone on
Wednesday by undertaking
a surprise inspection of
the Gujarat Vidyapith,
Ahmedabad. The Governor
suddenly reached the
Vidyapith around 10
o’clock in the morning and
observing a pile of filth in
the campus, the Governor
could not control himself
and picked up a broom in
his hands. Acharya Devvrat,
who is famous for starting
a cleanliness campaign
wherever he sees dirt,
Turn to P5
Gandhinagar: Having
campaigned extensively in
areas of the state which go
to the polls in the first phase
of the assembly election, PM
Modi will again visit Gujarat
on December 1 and 2. Party
sources said he will address
seven rallies during his two-
day canvassing tour.
788
candidates in fray for
89 Assembly seats for
1st
phase voting today
The remaining
93seats will be
decided in a vote
on December 5
GUJARAT
TO VOTE TODAY!
Moni Sharma
Ahmedabad: The cam-
paigning for the first
phase of elections in 89
of the total 182 seats in
Gujarat came to an end
on December 29. The
first phase of elections
will take place today.
The remaining 93 seats
will be decided in a vote
on December 5.
The Gujarat assem-
bly elections will fea-
ture 1,621 candidates. A
total of 788 candidates
will run for the 89 seats
up for election in Phase
1, including 70 women
and 339 independents.
Similarly, 833 candi-
dates will compete for
the 93 seats in Phase 2.
In the second round,
there are 69 female can-
didates and 285 inde-
pendents. More on P5
AAP MIGHT NOT OPEN ACCOUNT
IN GUJARAT, SAYS AMIT SHAH
Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his huge election campaign
roadshow on eve of 1st phase voting in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
HM Amit Shah in an interview
to PTI has downplayed
AAP’s challenge in Guj polls,
claiming Kejri’s party may not
even open its account. He
described Modi’s popularity,
all-round devp of Guj imple-
mentation of zero appease-
ment policy as main reasons
for people repeatedly reposing
faith in BJP over last 27 years.
Every party has
a right to contest
elections, but it
is up to people to accept
party or not. AAP is no-
where in mind of people of
Gujarat. Wait for election
results, maybe AAP’s name
would not figure in the list
of successful candidates.
—Amit Shah, HM
EVM and other polling materials stacked in rows as
preparations underway on the eve of first phase of
Gujarat Assembly elections, in Surat on Wednesday.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
MODIJI IS OUR BIGGEST
LEADER, GUJARATIS FEEL
PROUD OF HIM, SAYS SHAH
THERE WILL BE A HISTORIC
VICTORY FOR BJP UNDER
MODI’S GUIDANCE: NADDA
In a tete-a-tete with First India’s Aditi Nagar,
Union Home Minister Amit Shah stressed
that the BJP will break its own previous
record of seats won in election. Shah also
claimed that foul words used by Congress
against PM Narendra Modi have always made
Gujaratis vote for PM Modi and BJP.
l Do you think the claim that BJP’s
earlier record on seats will be broken?
Definitely. We will have an unexpected win
with the most number of seats. More on P8
BJP national prez JP Nadda conducted a
rally in Nadiad on Wednesday and spoke
to First India’s Aditi Nagar wherein he
stressed that the hard work of all the leaders
under PM Modi’s guidance will result in a
huge, one-sided and historic victory for BJP.
l Carpet bombing of rallies have happened
in Guj. Now what results are you expecting?
I see that Gujarat’s people are one sided in
favour of BJP. Everyone has an unbreakable
love and trust towards PM Modi. More on P8
WORLD
AIDS
DAY
MUMBAI l THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 l RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 204
BSE SENSEX 63,099.65 417.81 | NSE NIFTY 18,758.35 140.30 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
KOREA SCRAMBLES
JETS AFTER RUSSIA,
CHINA WARPLANES
FLYOVER AT ITS ZONE
Beirut: The Islamic State jihadist group said Wednesday that its leader Abu
Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi has been killed in battle and announced a
replacement. A spokesman for the jihadist group said Hashimi, identified
the group’s new leader as Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi.
Seoul: South Korea scrambled its jet fighters on
Wednesday after Chinese, Russian strategic bombers
flew a joint patrol in its air defence zone in western
Pacific without warning. Jets were deployed after 2
Chinese, 6 Russian planes breached Korea’s KADIZ.
CHINA WARNS
USA NOT TO
INTERFERE IN
TIES WITH INDIA
Washington: China has warned American officials not
to interfere in its relationship with India. Throughout
its standoff with India along LAC, Chinese officials
sought to downplay severity of the crisis, emphasising
Beijing’s intent to preserve border stability.
ISLAMIC STATE GROUP ANNOUNCES DEATH OF LEADER
INDIA'S
Q2 GDP
GROWTH
COMES IN
AT 6.3%
New Delhi: The Indian
economy has grown by
6.3% in the July to Sep-
tember quarter, down
from explosive growth
of 13.5% in the previous
quarter, as distortions
caused by Covid lock-
downs faded, but the
Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) raised repo rates
to combat inflationary
pressure, official data
revealed on Wednesday
.
Last year, the GDP
growth rate was 8.4% in
the July-September
quarter. The NSO, un-
der the Ministry of Sta-
tistics and Programme
Implementation, re-
leased the data on the
quarterly estimates of
the July-September pe-
riod of the current fi-
nancial year.
Bilkis Bano moves
SC challenging release
of 11 rape convicts
New Delhi: Bilkis
Bano has moved the
Supreme Court
against the remission
of sentences and the
release of convicts in
the 2002 gang-rape
case. The 11 men were
sentenced to life im-
prisonment for gang-
raping her and mur-
dering her family
members. Bilkis Bano
was 21 years old and
five-months pregnant
when she was raped
while fleeing riots that
broke out after Godhra
train incident.
NAWAB MALIK’S
BAIL PLEA REJECTED
Mumbai: A special
court in Mumbai on
Wednesday refused bail
to ex-Maha minister
Nawab Malik in a money
laundering case linked
to Dawood Ibrahim. P8
ED ARRESTS BUDDY
DIR AMIT ARORA
New Delhi: The ED
arrested Buddy Retail
Pvt Limited director Amit
Arora in connection with
its money laundering into
alleged irregularities in
Delhi Excise Policy case.
POLICE GETS 3-DAY
REMAND OF PINKI
New Delhi: EOW of Delhi
Police on Wednesday got
3-day remand of Pinki
Irani in connection with
probe in `200 crore case
involving jailed conman
Sukesh Chandrasekhar.
AT LEAST 16 KILLED,
24 INJURED IN NORTH
AFGHANISTAN BLAST
Kabul: At least 19 people
were killed and 24 others
wounded Wednesday by
a blast at a madrassa in
Afghanistan’s northern city
of Aybak. There have been
dozens of blasts and attacks
targeting civilians since the
Taliban returned to power.
FORMER CHINESE
PRESIDENT JIANG
ZEMIN DIES AGED 96
DNA HELPS CONVICT
MAN OF STEP-
DAUGHTER’S RAPE
Beijing: Former Chinese
President Jiang Zemin, who
led the country for a decade of
rapid economic growth after
the Tiananmen crackdown in
1989, died on Wednesday at
the age of 96, prompting a
wave of nostalgia for the more
liberal times he oversaw.
Mumbai: Relying on a DNA
test report, a special court
sentenced a 41-year-old man
to 20 years’ imprisonment
for repeatedly raping his
16-year-old step-daughter
since 2019 and impregnating
her. Incidentally, the victim
turned hostile during the
case trial. Special Judge Anis
Khan in the order passed on
Tuesday said in such peculiar
circumstances, DNA tests are
an effective tool. P3
AAFTAB CONFESSED
TO KILLING SHRADDHA
IN POLYGRAPH TEST
New Delhi: In the Shraddha
murder case, accused
Aaftab Poonawala reportedly
confessed to killing his live-
in partner in the polygraph
test. Aaftab, who not only
strangled Shraddha but also
chopped her body into 35
pieces and disposed them.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
TOYOTA KIRLOSKAR
VICE CHAIRMAN DIES
OF CARDIAC ARREST
Bengaluru: Toyota Kirloskar
Motor Vice Chairperson
Vikram S Kirloskar, 64, has
died due to a heart attack,
the automaker said on
Wednesday. Kirloskar suffered
a cardiac arrest on Tuesday
and was taken to a hospital,
where he passed away.

NEWS
MUMBAI | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 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
Govt panel to probe shift of
big-ticket projects from Maha
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The state
government is set to
form a three-member
committee headed by
a retired judge to
probe how big-ticket
industrial projects
chose destinations
other than the state
in the last three-four
months.
State Industries Min-
ister Uday Samant on
Wednesday also an-
nounced that a white
paper will be released
soon to bring out facts
in the matter.
Eknath Shinde-
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) government in
Maharashtra, formed
on June 30 this year, has
been facing the Opposi-
tion’s fire over the shift-
ing of mega projects
such as Vedanta-Fox-
conn plant and Tata
Airbus military air-
craft project out of the
state.
“A noise is being
made for politics that
these projects preferred
destinations other than
Maharashtra (only in
the last three-four
months since Eknath
Shinde became the
chief minister),” Sa-
mant told reporters.
“But ignoring (that
noise), this must be
probed (that how did
the companies go out of
Maharashtra). There-
fore, a committee will
be formed. The three-
member panel will be
headed by a retired
judge and two retired
senior bureaucrats,” he
said.
Will be headed
by a retired judge
and two senior
ex-bureaucrats,
says Min Samant
In 60 days, they (committee) will probe how
the projects went out of Maharashtra. All the
doubts in the minds of youth will be cleared
through this probe.
—Uday Samant, Maha Industries Minister
Maratha body calls for
Jalna bandh on Dec 07
First India Bureau
Jalna: A call for
bandh on December
07 was sounded in
Jalna district by the
Maratha Kranti
Morcha (MKM), an
umbrella body of all
Maratha organiza-
tions in Maharash-
tra, on Wednesday.
The organization
plans to protest
against state Gover-
nor Bhagat Singh
Koshyari’s recent re-
marks against
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj.
The Congress and
business community
would support the
bandh, the organiza-
tion said.
The governor had
recently raked up a
controversy by label-
ling Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj as an
icon of “olden days.”
MKM Convener, Dr
Sanjay Lakhe Patil,
said, “Governor Ko-
shyari is supposed to
be the guardian of the
Constitution. But, de-
spite holding a re-
spectable post, he is
behaving and speak-
ing in such a way that
he is the spokesper-
son of a particular
ideology.”
“The governor’s re-
marks against great
personalities, includ-
ing Maratha warrior
king Shivaji Maharaj,
social reformers Ma-
hatma Phule and
Savitribai Phule are
unacceptable for the
people of Maharash-
tra and the country,”
he said.
Congress MLA
Kailash Gorantyal
said the Congress and
business community
would support the
bandh called by the or-
ganization. Condemn-
ing the governor’s re-
marks, he demanded
Koshyari’s removal
from the post.
“Unless the gover-
nor is recalled by the
Centre, the winter ses-
sion of the Maharash-
tra legislature would
not be allowed to be
run,” warned Lakhe
Patil.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: MP Dhair-
yasheel Mane has been
appointed the chief of
an expert committee
formed by the state
government regarding
the writ petition in the
Supreme Court on the
Maharashtra-Karna-
taka border dispute.
Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde on Tues-
day congratulated
Mane, a first-time MP
from Hatkanangale in
Kolhapur district in
southern Maharashtra,
for the appointment, an
official release said.
Members of the ex-
pert committee include
Advocate Ram Apte,
Dinesh Aulkar and Dr
RV Patil as special coor-
dinator. Principal secre-
tary of Law and Justice
Department is also in-
cluded as a coordinator
while the secretary of
the department looking
intothematterof border
dispute is the member
secretary
, it added.
Thedispute,rekindled
recentlyafterstatements
by Karnataka CM Basa-
varaj Bommai.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: State minis-
ter Atul Save on
Wednesday said an in-
vestigation has been
ordered to check if
there was any irregu-
larity on the part of
cooperative banks in
providing loan to ac-
tor Riteish Deshmukh
and his wife Genelia
Deshmukh’s agro-
processing company
.
“Our (BJP’s) Latur
district president (Gu-
runath) Mage had writ-
ten a letter (raising the
issue). I don’t know any-
thing about the MIDC,
but I have ordered an
inquiry to check if
there was any irregular-
ity
,” Save said.
Last month, Bharati-
ya Janata Party (BJP)
leaders in Latur district
had alleged that the
agro-processing compa-
ny
, Desh Agro Pvt Ltd,
got a Maharashtra In-
dustrial Development
Corporation(MIDC)plot
out of turn in Latur dur-
ing the previous Maha
Vikas Aghadi (MVA)
government.
BJP leaders had also
alleged that the compa-
ny’s Rs4 crore loan with
the Latur District Cen-
tral Cooperative Bank
and another of Rs61
crore was approved
within a month.
First India Bureau
Nagpur: The process
of financial closure
for line number 1 of
the upcoming Navi
Mumbai Metro pro-
ject has been complet-
ed with the signing of
an agreement be-
tween CIDCO and IC-
ICI Bank for the Rs
500 crore line of cred-
it, stated a release on
Wednesday.
The Navi Mumbai
Metro Line 1 project is
a three-coach Metro
train. The 11.1-km Be-
lapur to Pendhar
stretch of the project
comprises 11 stations.
“City and Industrial
Development Corpora-
tion (CIDCO) signed an
agreement for the in-
dustrial line of credit
for Rs 500 crore with the
Industrial Credit and
Investment Corpora-
tion of India (ICICI).
With this, the financial
closure process for the
Metro Line no. 1 project
has been completed,”
said CIDCO in a release.
Speaking about the
major milestone, CI-
DCO vice chairman and
MD Sanjay Mukherjee
said the works on line
number 1 of the project
will be expedited.
“Due to the Rs. 500
crore line of credit fa-
cility from ICICI Bank,
the works of Line no. 1
will be expedited and it
will be possible to trav-
el on this line as soon
as the works are com-
pleted within the
scheduled time. The
sanctioning of the line
of credit has in a way
put a stamp on the
credibility of CIDCO’s
projects,” he said.
According to CIDCO,
the viaduct of the Met-
ro project is completed
while five of the total
11 stations are ready to
be commissioned. All
important clearances
including CMRS (safe-
ty certification and
technical clearances)
have been obtained
while the work of the
remaining six stations
is in full swing and the
complete line is ex-
pected to be commis-
sioned very soon.
The estimated cost of
the Metro line-1 project
is Rs3,400 crore, out of
which Rs2,600 crore are
already infused by CI-
DCO, Rs500 crore is
from the bank’s line of
credit while the remain-
ing amount will be CI-
DCO’s internal accru-
als, the release said.
Only one Metro line
runs on the Versova-
Andheri-Ghatkopar
route in Mumbai.
Navi Mumbai Metro project gets money boost for Line 1: CIDCO
FINANCIAL INFLUX
Agreement signed between devt corp
and ICICI Bank for `500 crore line of
credit; project to be expedited
TO BE READY SOON...
MP Mane is chief of
Maha-K’taka border
dispute expert panel
Heroin worth `51 lakh seized, 1 held
First India Bureau
Palghar: Police have
arrested a man and
seized from him hero-
in worth Rs 51 lakh at
Nalasopara in Palghar
district an official said
on Wednesday
.
Officials of the Crime
Branch unit-III of the
Mira Bhayandar-Vasai
Virar (MBVV) police ar-
rested the man on Tues-
day night.
“Acting on a tip-off
that a man would be
smuggling heroin, a po-
lice team laid a trap at
Achole Road in Nalaso-
para and nabbed him
around 9 pm. A search
revealed that he was car-
rying 510 grams of hero-
in,” senior inspector
Pramod Badakh of
Crime Unit III said.
An offence under the
Narcotic Drug and Psy-
chotropic Substances
(NDPS)Acthasbeenreg-
istered against him,
Badakhsaid,addingthat
an investigation was on.
Probe ordered into
Latur bank loan to
Riteish’s company
MP Dhairyasheel Mane —FILE PHOTO
FOURTH PERSON
ARRESTED IN PENCH
TIGER RESERVE
POACHING CASE
COLABA-BANDRA-
SEEPZ METRO-3
TUNNELLING WORK
COMPLETED
EDUCATIONIST,
MARATHI AUTHOR
NAGNATH
KOTTAPALLE DIES
Nagpur: One more person
was arrested from Madhya
Pradesh on Wednesday in
connection with the killing
of a tiger at Surewani in
Pench Tiger Reserve, an
official said. The latest arrest
was made on Wednesday
morning from Amala village
of Madhya Pradesh. A
release by Deputy Director,
Pench Tiger Reserve Prabhu
Nath Shukla said the tiger
poaching incident had come
to light on November 29. All
four accused were produced
before a judicial magistrate
who remanded them in the
Forest Department’s custody
till December 03.
Mumbai: The tunnelling
work of the Colaba-Band-
ra-SEEPZ Metro-3 corridor
was completed on Wednes-
day, while the overall
project is 76.6% complete,
the Mumbai Metro Rail
Corporation (MMRC) said.
The tunnelling work was
completed after the final
breakthrough at the Mum-
bai Central Metro Station.
The line 3 of Mumbai
Metro, which will have
a 33.5 km underground
route, will connect south
Mumbai with the western
suburbs, and is expected to
reduce the burden on the
suburban local trains.
Pune: Educationist and
Marathi author Nagnath
Kottapalle passed away
on Wednesday due to a
brief illness at a hospital in
Pune, family sources said.
He was 74. Kottapalle had
served as the vice chancel-
lor of Aurangabad-based
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
Marathwada University
(BAMU) in 2005. He was
the president of the 86th
All India Marathi Literary
meet held at Chiplun in
Ratnagiri district in 2012.
CRUCIAL
READ
Other members
include Advocate Ram
Apte, Dinesh Aulkar
and Dr RV Patil as
special coordinator
THE BURNING CAR
Smoke and flames billow out after a car catches fire at Kherwadi service road in Mumbai on
Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
The Vedanta-Foxconn
semiconductor plant project
was shifted to Gujarat in
September. Seen in picture are
Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel
and delegates of Vedanta
Foxconn. —FILE PHOTO
NO DEAL
Riteish Deshmukh and his wife Genelia. —FILE PHOTO
Governor
Koshyari is
supposed to
be the guardian of
the Constitution.
But, despite holding
a respectable post, he
is behaving and
speaking in such a
way that he is the
spokesperson of a
particular ideology.
—Dr Sanjay Lakhe Patil,
Convener, Maratha Kranti
Morcha
Guv BS Koshyari has been
in hot soup for calling
Chhatrapati Shivaji an icon of
‘olden days’. —FILE PHOTO

MAHARASHTRA
03
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The number
of measles cases re-
ported in Maharash-
tra since the start
of theyearhasreached
724, including 323
in Mumbai, the state
health department
said.
The viral infection,
which mostly affects
children, has claimed
15 lives so far. All 15
fatalities have been re-
ported in the Mumbai
Metropolitan Re-
gion—11 in Mumbai,
three in Bhiwandi and
one in Vasai-Virar.
Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde is
regularly reviewing the
situation.
On Tuesday
, Mumbai
recorded five fresh
measles cases and one
suspected death, the
city’s civic body said in a
bulletin.
Since January
, 70 cas-
es of infection have been
reported in Malegaon
city in Nashik district
and 48 in Bhiwandi near
Mumbai. Mumbai has
recorded74outbreaksso
far this year.
Mumbaialsorecorded
11,390 suspected cases
since January 1, 2022.
The state had record-
ed 1,337 confirmed cases
in 2019, 2,150 in 2020 and
3,668 last year, as per of-
ficial data.
Of the 14 patients who
died due to measles this
year, only one had taken
vaccine, the statement
said.
Four of the patients
who died were infants in
the 0-11 months age
group,eightwerein12-24
months age group and
two were adults in 25-60
age group. Six of the de-
ceased were female.
A special immuniza-
tiondriveisbeingunder-
taken amid the rising
cases. The Brihanmum-
bai Municipal Corpora-
tion plans to start ‘Out-
breakResponseImmuni-
zation’ from December
01, it said in a release.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Amid 24-
hour water cut in
Mumbai on November
29-30, due to repair
and maintenance
work, the Navi Mum-
bai Municipal Corpo-
ration (NMMC) has
busted illegal water
connections in the city
.
The civic body has cut
as many as 850 unau-
thorized water connec-
tions and has also initi-
ated a survey of residen-
tial societies that are
consuming extra water.
According to a civic
official, there were com-
plaints of low-pressure
water supply in some
parts of the city
. NMMC
officials and staff visit-
edVashi,Turbhe,Kopar
Khairane, Ghansoli and
Airoli, where they
found illegal connec-
tions of which 850 were
cut. The unauthorized
connections were found
primarily in gaothans
and slums.
The civic body has
warned 700 housing so-
cieties that are allegedly
misusing or consuming
extra water against
higher bills if potable
water wastage doesn’t
stop. The NMMC offi-
cials found that resi-
dents in most societies
were using potable wa-
ter for activities like
washing their cars and
watering plants.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Relying on a
DNA test report, a
special court sen-
tenced a 41-year-old
man to 20 years’ im-
prisonment for re-
peatedly raping his
16-year-old step-
daughter since 2019
and impregnating
her. Incidentally, the
victim turned hostile
during the case trial.
Special Judge Anis
Khan, designated to
hear cases related to the
Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act, in the or-
der passed on Tuesday
said in such peculiar
circumstances, DNA
tests are an effective tool
for investigation as well
as to establish the proof
of guilt of the accused.
“The DNA report
clearly indicates the ac-
cused was the biologi-
cal father of the foetus
of the victim girl,” the
court said in the order,
a copy of which was
made available on
Wednesday
.
“It is, indeed, sad that
a very serious and hei-
nous offence has been
committed by a step-fa-
ther on his step-daugh-
ter who is a child below
18 years,” it said.
Merely because the
victim and her mother
have turned hostile does
not mean it would lead
the prosecution case to
fail, the court said.
As per the prosecu-
tion, the accused had
been raping the girl
since October 2019.
In June 2020, the girl
informed about the of-
fence to her mother, fol-
lowing which, a police
complaint was lodged.
During a medical ex-
amination, it was re-
vealed the girl was 16
weeks pregnant. The
pregnancy was later
terminated.
During the trial, the
victim and her mother
turned hostile.
In its judgment, the
court said the victim
and her mother in their
statements before the
court claimed the ac-
cused was the only
earning member of
their family and hence
they want to forgive
him and bring him out
of jail.
“The statement given
by the victim is suffi-
cient to prove she is
under emotional pres-
sure from her mother
and hence has denied
the incidents,” the
court noted.
“In these peculiar cir-
cumstances, DNA tests
are an effective tool for
investigation as well as
to establish the proof of
guilt of the accused. In
the present case, the
DNA test has proved
that the accused and the
victim were the biologi-
cal parents of the foe-
tus,” said the court.
No delimitation of Mumbai civic wards till Dec 20: Govt to Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): The
state government on
Wednesday informed
the Bombay High
Court that it would
not proceed with the
process of delimita-
tion of wards with
respect to the cash-
rich Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corpora-
tion (BMC) till fur-
ther hearing of a
plea against the re-
duction of wards in
the civic body.
The court posted the
matter for hearing on
December 20.
A division bench
comprising Justice SV
Gangapurwala and Jus-
tice AS Doctor was
hearing two petitions
filed by two former
councillors,challenging
an ordinance issued by
the state government
reducingthenumberof
directly elected council-
lors within the limits of
theBMCfrom236to227.
Senior counsel
Vikram Nankani, ap-
pearing for the state
government, told the
court on Wednesday
that till the next date of
hearing, the govern-
ment would not pro-
ceed with the delimita-
tion process with re-
gard to the BMC.
The bench accepted
this statement and said
theapprehensionof the
petitioners has been ad-
dressed. The HC posted
the matter for hearing
on December 20.
InNovember2021,the
then Maha Vikas Agha-
di (MVA) government
led by Uddhav Thack-
eraydecidedtoincrease
the number of BMC
wards from 227 to 236.
After its collapse, the
new Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde-led gov-
ernment issued an or-
dinance in August
bringing back the num-
ber to 227.
Former BMC coun-
cillors Raju Pednekar
and Sameer Desai in
their petitions chal-
lenged this decision
and said it had sought
to put the clock back.
The state Urban De-
velopment Department
in an affidavit filed on
Wednesday said the pe-
titions have been filed
with “ulterior mo-
tives” and ought to be
dismissed with exem-
plary cost.
The state election
commission (SEC) in
its affidavit filed on
Wednesday in response
to the petitions said in
2021, when the seats
were increased by the
state government from
227 to 236, the SEC had
to scrap the work al-
ready done by it with
regard to the pre-elec-
tion process and re-
start it.
Bench hears petitions over order
reducing the number of BMC
councillors from 236 to 227
MALDA ROBBER
EVADING ARREST
FOR 4 YRS, HELD
FIVE PEOPLE
INJURED IN A
ROAD ACCIDENT
TWO WOMEN
INJURED IN THANE
APARTMENT FIRE
MAN FOUND WITH
THROAT SLIT ON
BUS IN PALGHAR
Navi Mumbai: The Crime
Branch Unit 2 of Navi
Mumbai police arrested
Minu alias Alauddin Nesu
Mohammad Shaikh, 40,
a native of Malda town in
West Bengal, last week.
He was wanted for a
Rs40 lakh jewellery theft
in Nerul in 2018. Shaikh,
who was giving police
the slip for the last four
years, was arrested from
Koparkhairane when he
came to the city in search
of work.
Pune: At least five
people were injured
when a truck in which
they were travelling
overturned near a bridge
on Mumbai-Bengaluru
highway in Pune district
on Wednesday morning,
police said. The accident
took place at around
5 am near Bhumkar
Chowk close to Navale
bridge, they said. “The
truck was coming from
Satara side when it over-
turned. As per primary
information, four to five
people were injured and
they have been shifted
to a hospital,” inspector
Jayant Rajurkar from
Sinhgad Road police
station said.
Thane: Two women re-
ceived severe burns after
a fire broke out in an
apartment in the Kalyan
area of Thane district,
fire brigade officials said.
The blaze erupted late
Tuesday night after a gas
leakage in the apartment
located on the first floor
of a building and spread
to the entire house, they
said. Six persons, includ-
ing a six-month-old
child, were trapped in the
house after the fire.
Palghar: An unidenti-
fied man was found
murdered in a private
passenger bus head-
ing for Rajasthan in
Palghar district on
Tuesday night, police
said. The bus was on
its way from Ghatkopar
in Mumbai to Udaipur
when a fellow pas-
senger spotted the
deceased in his seat
with a pool of blood
around him, a police
official said. His throat
had been slit, the of-
ficial added. The victim
had boarded the bus in
Thane city. The incident
came to light near
Kasa on the Mumbai-
Ahmedabad highway.
CRUCIAL
READ
DNA helps convict man
of step-daughter’s rape
MUMBAI COURT RELIES ON TEST REPORT OF FOETUS AFTER
VICTIM HER MOTHER TURN HOSTILE, GIVES 20 YEARS RI
724 measles cases in Maha
so far, Mumbai worst-hit
NMMC cuts 850 illegal water
connections in Navi Mumbai
The viral infection,
which mostly affects
children, has claimed
15 lives so far
We are learning from each other every day: Phurba Lachenpa
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Mumbai
City FC have emerged
as the strongest force
in the Indian Super
League (ISL) 2022-23
season so far this sea-
son as they sit on the
top of the table, after
match week eight.
Des Buckingham’s
team have been firing
on all cylinders in at-
tack scoring 23 goals,
which is the most by
any team after eight
matches in ISL history.
Mumbai City FC
though have also sig-
nificantly improved at
the back conceding just
over one goal per game
as compared to over
1.5 goals per game last
season.
One of the key rea-
sons for the improve-
ment on that front has
been the steady and as-
sured goalkeeping of
Phurba Lachenpa who
has made the spot be-
tween the sticks his
own despite some
tough competition.
“It feels great to be a
part of this quad be-
cause we had three
strong goalkeepers.
Bhaskar Roy was one
of the best goalkeepers
in the I-League last
year and (Mohammad)
Nawaz because he been
performing for last 4-5
ISL seasons,” Lachen-
pa said.
He further added,
“We have a great (goal-
keeping coach) in Ro-
zario. We are learning
from each other every
day and pushing each
other to our limits.”
The Sikkim-born
custodian though has
urged his team to keep
going strong and not let
their foot off the pedal.
“We just have to stick
to the coach’s plan and
carry this momentum
forward by expressing
ourselves on the field,”
he said.
SAFE HANDS
Phurba Lachenpa of Mumbai City in action. —FILE PHOTO
Mumbai City FC have emerged as
the strongest force in the ISL
2022-23 season, thanks to the
goalkeeping of Phurba Lachenpa
It feels
great to be
a part of
this quad because
we had three strong
goalkeepers. Bhas-
kar Roy was one of
the best goalkeepers
in the I-League last
year and Nawaz
because he been per-
forming for last 4-5
ISL seasons.
—Phurba Lachenpa,
Mumbai City FC goalkeeper
THE CASE
The procedure of collection of blood
samples, submission of the same to
a lab and further analysis was done
properly and hence the final DNA report has
to be accepted. —Special court
BMC issues LOR to help hawkers get bank loan
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC)
has given Letter of
Re c o m m e n d at i o n
(LOR) to 40,000 hawk-
ers so that they can get
a loan under Prime
Minister Street Ven-
dor Atma Nirbhar Ni-
dhi Scheme (PM SVA-
Nidhi scheme) from
anynationalizedbank.
The civic body will
issue more than 50,000
LOR by the end of
the week, a senior offi-
cial said.
The PM SVANidhi
scheme intends to facili-
tate collateral-free work-
ing capital loans of up to
Rs10, 000 of one year ten-
ure to approximately 50
lakh street vendors, to
help resume their busi-
ness in the urban areas
and semi urban areas.
The applicants will have
to repay the loan within
a year and loan EMI
amounts are marginal.
According to the Ad-
ditionalMunicipalCom-
missioner Asheesh
Sharma, officers are in
touch with hawkers’ as-
sociations to convince
them to avail loan under
this scheme.
“This scheme will be
helpful for the hawkers
even in the future. Once
ahawkerrepayshisloan
in a given time he will be
eligible for more busi-
ness and other types of
loan easily
,” he said.
If water waste
continues, 700
housing societies may
face increased rates

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 204
l RNI TITLE NO.
MAHENG/2022/14652
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe
MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial
Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701.
Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C
of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS
Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part)
Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057.
Phone 022-46031417.
Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
I call upon all #ExamWarriors, their
parents and teachers to take part in
these interesting activities relating
to Pariksha Pe Charcha 2023. Let us
collectively work towards creating
a stress free environment for our
students. #PPC2023
Nitin Gadkari
@nitin_gadkari
Senior writer and critic Dr. The news
of Nagnath Kottapalle’s death is sad.
My heartfelt tribute to him. Kottapalle’s
journey and career as a teacher of
Marathi, head of the department to
vice chancellor of the university and
then president of the All India Marathi
Literature Association is long.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Those who cling to
perceptions and views
wander the world
offending people.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
TOP TWEETS
IRANIANS FIND
NOVEL WAYS TO
PROTEST AGAINST
THEIR GOVT
t has been a few
months now, Iran is
in turmoil over the
death of Mahsa Ami-
ni on September 16.
Women spearheaded the pro-
tests in the beginning but were
later joined by the masses. The
unrest has been the centre of
global attention as it is challeng-
ing the clerics and the stringent
Islamic laws like wearing of hi-
jab. The protests have now got
nationwide support and people
are ready to face bullets and jail
as a consequence.
Burning of head scarves by
women and teenage girls was
just one of the methods. Iran’s
soccer team showed a passive
form of protest when they did
not sing their country’s national
anthem at the start of one of
their matches at the FIFA World
Cup soccer in Qatar.
What will really hit the Ira-
nian government hard is the
widespread celebration in sev-
eral parts of Iran over their loss
to the US, their sworn enemy, in
their match on Wednesday
.
I
avana and Sur-
panakha made
theirentryinGuja-
rat’s political lexi-
con. While Ravana
made its debut, Surpanakha,
the demon king’s sister appar-
ently debuted much earlier.
Both the terms should have
been avoided, especially the
one likening Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to the mytho-
logicalkingof Lanka.Compar-
ing Modi to Ravana lowered
thedignityof theprimeminis-
ter and harmed the prospects
of the Congress.
The remark was made by
the Congress president Mall-
ikarjun Kharge while cam-
paigning in Ahmedabad.
Khargewonderedif Modihad
“100 heads” like the villain in
Ramayan which is why he
asks people to vote in every
election looking at his face.
The comment won’t help the
Congress as it has lost sub-
stantial ground and because
Gujarat is Modi’s home turf
where he has made the BJP
invincible. It has also exposed
Kharge’s lack of knowledge
aboutRamayan’scharacters---
Ravanahadtenheads,not100!
The BJP hit out at the Con-
gress. Gujarat Chief Minister
BhupendraPatelsaidthebarb
reflected Congress’s despera-
tionandshowedthepartywas
out to defame Gujaratis. Oth-
er BJP leaders like Ravi
Shankar Prasad and Amit
Malviya, the party’s IT cell
chief also attacked Kharge
and his party
. The Congress
does not look at the remark as
aself goal.Instead,Khargebe-
ing a Dalit, the party leaders
brought in Dalit politics in
their war of words after he
wascalled“fringe”bytheBJP
.
Renuka Chaudhary, former
Union minister, joined the is-
sue alleging that Modi called
her a Surpanakha. The Con-
gresshasforgottenhowcostly
Sonia Gandhi’s “maut ke sau-
dagar” jibe proved earlier.
CONG REFUSES TO
LEARN FROM PAST
The remark was made by
the Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge
while campaigning in
Ahmedabad. Kharge
wondered if Modi had
“100 heads” like the
villain in Ramayan
which is why he asks
people to vote in every
election looking at his face
R
ndia’s former coach Ravi
Shastri has set off a big buzz
by suggesting that Team In-
dia should give Sanju Sam-
son far more opportunities.
Team India’s former coach
has urged selectors, BCCI
and the team management to
support Samson for 10
straight matches before tak-
ing a final decision on his
future highlighting the injus-
tice that has dogged the in-
ternational career of the
skipper of the Rajasthan
Royals side in the IPL.
Sanju Samson fans have
often accused the national
selectors of ruining an in-
credible talent like him. Most
experts feel that the ‘Kerala
King’ has not been given
enough chances to cement
his place in the Indian team.
Samson was in tremendous
form this year but the selec-
tors didn’t pick him in the
squad for the T20 World Cup
or for the Asia Cup. This has
happened in a year where he
had a fine IPL season and led
Rajasthan Royals to their
first final since 2008 when the
Royals under Shane Warne
won the inaugural IPL cham-
pionship.
How shabbily Sanju often
gets treated is clear even
from the New Zealand trip
where the 28-year-old is tour-
ing with India’s white-ball
squad. Despite many seniors
missing, Samson was not
picked for any of the three
T20 games against the Kiwis.
In the first ODI game, he was
picked and scored 36 runs
from 38 balls after batting at
number 6 and forged a cru-
cial 94-run stand with
Shreyas Iyer which helped
India reach an over-300 total.
After New Zealand won the
first ODI, Samson was
dropped again - for the sake
of getting an extra bowler.
The team management in-
cluded batting all-rounder
Deepak Hooda in place of
Sanju for the next two ODI
games – for Hooda as a part-
time spinner could provide
cushion to the other five
bowlers. This further adds
fuel to the fans’ anger about
Sanju being treated unfairly
in Team India. Given how
much cricket Suryakumar
Yadav has played lately, he
could have been rested to give
a fair chance to Samson in
the middle order on the New
Zealand tour. The series was
an ideal time to give Saju con-
tinuous game-time in the
middle after years of sporad-
ic chances but the opportu-
nity was wasted.
Sanju made his interna-
tional debut in 2015 but since
then, he’s been given very
few chances. For the T20
World Cup in 2024, the choice
of keeper-batsman will be be-
tween Rishabh Pant, Ishan
Kishan and Samson. Though
Sanju was the first to get se-
lected, he has played much
less games than the other
two. The Rajasthan Royals
skipper has appeared in just
16 T20Is for India. Even Ishan
Kishan has played three
more T20Is than Samson,
while Rishabh Pant has
played a huge 66 games for
the country
.
In contrast to Pant who is
going through a torrid time
in white-ball games, Sanju
scored 179 runs in the six
T20Is he has played in 2022,
averaging nearly 45 at a
strike rate of 158.40. In ODIs,
Samson has a career average
of 66 but this year he aver-
ages 71 at a strike rate of 109
in 9 innings. His stats reveal
that Sanju has done exceed-
ingly well in the limited
chances he’s got but the team
management has hardly
done justice to him.
Moreover, Samson has al-
ways been the kind of player
who doesn’t waste balls,
plays impact innings and can
change the course of a match
in a matter of a few balls. As
a dynamic batter, Sanju can
be sent in both at the start of
the innings or in the middle
order. Despite being a wicket-
keeper, he’s an outstanding
fielder in the outfield.
Sadly, Sanju does not fig-
ure even in the squads an-
nounced for the upcoming
tour to Bangladesh where
India plays 3 ODIs before a
2-Test series. As such, he now
has to wait for the IPL to
showcase his talent.
Given the dismal losses in
the last two T20 World Cups,
Team India needs to change
its style of play from con-
servative to aggressive and
Samson fits that narrative
perfectly. At a time when In-
dia needs to rebuild its T20
team and prepare a strong
squad for the ODI World
Cup in 2023, Samson de-
serves an extended run in
Team India.
Nearly 33 years ago, India’s
legendary cricketer, Mohin-
der Amarnath had famously
called the selectors “a bunch
of jokers.” It’s a pithy phrase
that has been frequently used
for Indian selectors since
then. In looking at the curi-
ous case of mishandling the
career of Sanju Samson,
most Indian fans would tend
to agree with Amarnath’s as-
sessment even today!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
Nearly 33 years ago, India’s
legendary cricketer,
Mohinder Amarnath had
famously called the selectors
“a bunch of jokers.” It’s a
pithy phrase that has been
frequently used for Indian
selectors since then. In
looking at the curious case
of mishandling the career of
Sanju Samson, most Indian
fans would tend to agree
with Amarnath’s
assessment even today!
Sanju Samson fans
have often accused the
national selectors of
ruining an incredible
talent like him. Most
experts feel that the
‘Kerala King’ has not
been given enough
chances to cement his
place in the Indian
team. Samson was in
tremendous form this
year but the selectors
didn’t pick him in the
squad for the T20
World Cup or for the
Asia Cup
SIDDHAARTH MAHAN
The writer is a specialist on Sports
and Cinema who works as an actor
in the Hindi film industry
THE CURIOUS
SANJU
SAMSON
WHY IS RAJASTHAN
ROYALS CAPTAIN
TREATED UNFAIRLY?
CASE
OF

To Receive Free Newspaper
PDF Daily
Whatsapp:
Telegram:
Click the above link☝ subscribe us on your
preferred platform.
https://bit.ly/fiwhatsappmumbai
https://t.me/thefirstindiamumbai

05
INDIA
Ahmedabad (PTI): De-
fence Minister Rajnath
Singh on Wednesday
said Mahatma Gandhi
and Vallabhbhai Patel
were the symbols of Gu-
jarat’s honour and pride
in the 20th Century and
PM Modi has emerged
as the state’s “honour
pride” in 21st Century
.
Addressing a press
conference, Singh said
the people of Gujarat
will give a befitting re-
ply to those who used
abusive words for the
prime minister. “he is
Gujarat’s honour and
pride, while Mahatma
Gandhi and Sardar Pa-
tel were the symbols of
Gujarat’s honour and
pride in the 20th Centu-
ry, our Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has
emerged as Gujarat’s
honour and pride in the
21st Century
.”
‘Gandhi, Patel symbols of Gujarat’s
pride, PM Modi is State’s honour’
New Delhi (ANI): The
Prime Minister, Naren-
dra Modi addressed the
Manipur Sangai Festi-
val via video message
today. Labelled as the
grandest festival in the
state, the Manipur San-
gai Festival helps in
promoting Manipur as
a world-class tourism
destination. The festi-
val is named after the
state animal, Sangai,
the brow-antlered deer
found only in Manipur.
Addressing the gath-
ering, the Prime Minis-
ter congratulated the
people of Manipur for
the successful organi-
sation of the Manipur
Sangai Festival. He
pointed out that the fes-
tival is being organised
after a gap of two years
owing to the Corona
pandemic and ex-
pressed delight at the
grand scale of ar-
rangements. “Ma-
nipur Sangai Festi-
val highlights the
spirit and passion
of the people of Ma-
nipur”, the Prime
Minister remarked
as he ap-
plauded the
e f f o r t s
and the
compre-
hensive
vision
of the
Manipur Government
and Chief Minister N
Biren Singh for organ-
ising this festival.
Remarking on Ma-
nipur’s abundant nat-
ural beauty, cultural
richness and diversity,
the Prime Minister
said that everyone
wants to visit the state
at least once and drew
an analogy to a beauti-
ful garland that is
made up of different
gems. The Prime Min-
ister further added
that Manipur is exact-
ly like an elegant gar-
land where one can
witness a mini India in
the state.
The Prime Minister
underlined that India
in its Amrit Kaal is
moving forward with
the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat
Shreshtha Bharat’.
Shedding light on the
theme of the Sangai
Festival which is the
‘Festival of One-ness’
the Prime Minister re-
marked that the suc-
cessful organisation of
this festival will act as
a source of energy and
inspiration for the na-
tion in the days to
come. “Sangai is not
only the state animal
of Manipur but also
has a special place in
India’s faith and be-
liefs. The Sangai Festi-
val also celebrates the
biodiversity of India”,
the PM Modi said.
Manipur is an elegant garland where one can witness mini India: PM
Everyone wants to visit
the state at least once
and drew an analogy
to a beautiful garland that is
made up of different gems.
Manipur is exactly
like an elegant gar-
land where one
can witness a
mini India.
—Narendra Modi,
Prime Minister
MANIPUR SANGAI
FESTIVAL
Shamsher Singh
New Delhi: The steer-
ing committee of the
Congress will decide
when and where the
AICC session will be
held to finalize the
name of Mallikarjun
Kharge. But informed
leaders of the party say
that the convention
may be held by the end
of February or at the
most it will be held in
the first week of March.
This is being said on the
basis that Rahul Gan-
dhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra
is coming to an end in
the first week of Febru-
ary. If there is no hin-
drance in the journey, it
will reach Srinagar be-
tween February 5 and 7
and Rahul Gandhi will
return to Delhi after
hoisting the tricolor
there. The party wants
the momentum created
by his visit to be con-
tinue for several
months more, if not
weeks, and the Con-
gress wants to take ad-
vantage of this in next
year’s assembly elec-
tions.
According to in-
formed sources in the
Congress, the conven-
tion will be held in the
break between the end
of Rahul Gandhi’s yatra
and the budget session
of Parliament. The
budgetsessionof Parlia-
mentbeginstowardsthe
end of January and
from the second week
there is a one-month
break. So, the time is
from the third week of
February to the second
week of March. Along
with this, the party has
to decide where the con-
vention will be held. As-
semblyelectionsaredue
in Kharge’s home state
Karnataka in May next
year, where the Con-
gressishopingtoreturn
to power. That’s why
Kharge’s name should
be stamped by holding a
convention in Karnata-
ka itself. If Congress
makes it a big event, the
party will surely get
benefit in the elections.
Elections are also to
be held in Rajasthan
and Madhya Pradesh
next year. But elections
will be held in both the
states at the end of the
year and Congress had
organized Nav Sankalp
Shivir this year in
Udaipur city of Ra-
jasthan. That’s why
there is less possibility
of convention in these
states. If Congress does
not want to make it a
big event and wants to
keep a low profile, then
it can be organized in
Delhi or Haryana.
When and where will Congress hold AICC session?
DILEMMA ON DATES
Sonia Gandhi Mallikarjun Kharge. —FILE PHOTO
IN THE COURTYARD
KERALA HIGH COURT DISMISSES PIL SEEKING
TIME-LIMIT ON PASSING OF BILLS BY GOVERNOR
KARNATAKA HIGH COURT UPHOLDS BAN ON PFI FOR
ITS INVOLVEMENT IN ANTI-NATIONAL ACTIVITIES
DELHI HIGH COURT ALLOWS MEHBOOBA MUFTI
TO WITHDRAW PLEA IN PMLA CASE
Kochi: Kerala HC on Wednesday dis-
missed the PIL seeking to set a time limit
for the Kerala Governor to take a decision
on the bills passed by the State Assembly.
While dismissing the PIL, the Court ob-
served that “It’s not the court’s duty to fix
a time limit to decide on bills by the Governor and it’s for the
legislature to do so.” A PIL was filed in the Kerala High Court
seeking to set a time limit for Governor to take decision.
Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has upheld the re-
cent ban imposed by the Central govt on the Popular Front
of India (PFI) for its involvement in anti-national activities. A
single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna on Wednes-
day pronounced the judgment. The ban was challenged by
Nasir Ali, a resident of Bengaluru and the state president of
the proscribed outfit. The Central government had issued
an order banning the organisation and its allied outfits for a
period of five years with immediate effect on Sept 28.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on
Wednesday allowed the withdrawal of the
plea filed by former Jammu and Kashmir
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti challeng-
ing the vires of the Prevention of Money
Laundering Act (PMLA). The plea filed by
former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti
was allowed the withdrawal by the Delhi High Court. The HC
Bench on Wednesday allowed the withdrawal of the plea.
QUEER LAWYER REQUESTS
CJI FOR GENDER INCLUSIVE
APPEARANCE IN COURTS
New Delhi: A queer lawyer
practising before the Su-
preme Court has written to
the Chief Justice of India DY
Chandrachud with a request
to modify the appearance
slips in the SC to include
an additional column for
mentioning people’s pro-
nouns so that they may be
correctly used in the court’s
orders or judgments. While
this may seem simple, and
such a change will only
require an administrative
direction from you, it will go
a long way in affirming the
identities, the lawyer said.
VARANASI COURT TO
CLUB HALF DOZEN CASES
RELATED TO GYANVAPI
Varanasi: A Varanasi court
is set to deliver its verdict
on the matter of clubbing
together all the cases on the
plea seeking worship rights
of the ‘Shivling’ that Hindu
side claimed to be found
on the Gyanvapi mosque
premises. The matter will
be heard in the district
judge’s court. During the
proceedings of the Advocate
Commissioner in Gyanvapi
Masjid case in the month of
May, many new cases re-
garding the alleged Shivling
found in the survey have
also come.
DMK TO SC: CENTRE STEP
MOTHERLY TOWARDS
TAMIL REFUGEES
New Delhi: The DMK has told
the Supreme Court that the
Citizenship (Amendment)
Act of 2019 is “arbitrary” as
it only considers religious
minorities from 3 countries
while keeping Sri Lankan
Tamils staying in India as
refugees. The Central govt
has “categorically remained
silent to the plight of the Ta-
mil refugees. Step-motherly
behaviour of Respondent
No.1 (Centre) towards the
Tamil refugees has left
them living in constant fear
of deportation,” stated the
affidavit filed by DMK.
AUSTRALIAN WOMAN
MURDER: COURT LISTS
MATTER FOR DEC 17
Kochi (Kerala): The Kerala
High Court on Wednesday
ordered a re-investigation
of the case in which the for-
mer Company Secretary of
Malabar Cements, Saseen-
dran and his two sons died.
The court asked CBI to
complete the investigation
within four months. It also
directed that every suspi-
cious situation, including
the possibility of murder,
should be examined in
detail. Earlier the Sessions
Court rejected the petition
filed by Saseendran’s
brother Sanal Kumar.
BJP WILL COME BACK TO POWER
WITH HUGE MANDATE: AMIT SHAH
IF ANTI- RADICALISATION CELL WORKS, WILL BRING IT NATIONALLY, UNION
HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH ASSERTS DURING A RALLY AHEAD OF VOTING
Govt aims at one
crore job-mark
from digital
economy in next
2 yrs: Vaishnaw
New Delhi (ANI): The
government has set a
target to cross 1 crore
job-mark in the next 2
years in three main seg-
ments of digital econo-
my — electronics, start-
ups and IT, and IT-ena-
bled services, minister
for IT Communica-
tions Ashwani
Vaishnaw said on
Wednesday
.
While speaking at an
ESC?STPI event for
startups, Vaishnaw
said three big pillars of
digital economy -- elec-
tronics manufacturing,
IT and ITes, startups --
they have created 88-90
lakh jobs. “Govern-
ment has set a target
that in this we should
be easily crossing 1
crore jobs in the com-
ing two years without
any doubt,” the minis-
ter said.
He said that the digi-
tal economy and its as-
sociated employment is
a major trend now and
the other trend is diver-
sity. “Earlier names of
a couple of cities were
mentioned for startups.
Now when I go to
schools in villages, chil-
dren in villages want to
set up a start-up,”
Vaishnaw said.
The minister said
that India is now be-
coming a technology
producer from being a
technology consumer.
He said that the Soft-
ware Technology Parks
of India (STPI) is creat-
ing plug-and-play infra-
structure to provide a
platform to startups.
Ashiwini Vaishnaw at National
startup campiagn on Wednesday.
GUJARAT POLLS
Ahmedabad (PTI):
Home minister Amit
ShahonWednesday
,held
a mega roadshow in
Asarwa, where thou-
sands of supporters
gathered to cheer for the
saffron party
. During the
roadshow, he asserted
that the Anti-radicalisa-
tion Cells in Gujarat,
which is one of the poll
promises of the BJP
, is
an experiment and will
be started in other states
too after a thorough
study
. He also exuded
confidence that BJP will
come back to power with
a huge mandate.
He said that if Anti-
radicalisationcellworks,
willbringitinnationally
.
BJP will come back to
power with a very good
mandate. When asked
where he sees Cong and
AAP in the election, the
HM responded, It won't
be right of me to com-
ment on any other party
,
but we will come back.
Amit Shah added.
BJP has ful-
filled its
promises and
created credibility
among the people.
That is why every sec-
tion of Gujarat, be it
tribals, farmers,
youth or women, are
all with BJP. The
public support from
including Santaram-
pur, Asarva, and
Mansa confirms it.
—Amit Shah,
Union Home Minister
Union Home Minster Amit Shah during a rally in Mansa on Wednesday.
ON EVE OF FIRST PHASE, NADDA, RAJNATH
TARGET CONG OVER ‘RAVAN’ REMARK
Ahmedabad: On the eve of the Gujarat assembly polls’ first phase,
the BJP intensified its attack on the Congress over its president
Mallikarjun Kharge’s ‘Ravan’ jibe at PM Modi. During a roadshow
here, BJP president J P Nadda said Kharge’s barb and another Con-
gress leader Madhusudan Mistry’s ‘aukat’ remark at Modi expose
the party’s mindset and betray its frustration as the party stands
nowhere while the BJP is getting one-sided support. Defence Min-
ister Rajnath Singh told reporters that the people of Gujarat will
give a befitting reply to those using abusive words for the prime
minister who, he asserted, is Gujarat’s “honour and pride”.
From Page 1
Always carries a broom
and a trowel in his car.
Even on Wednesday, he
took a broom and
cleaned all the garbage
lying in front of him. He
was engaged in the
cleanliness campaign
for a long time. During
the surprise inspection,
he also inquired about
the food and other facili-
ties provided to the chil-
dren in the institute.
Even while being the
Governor of Himachal
Pradesh, Acharya Dev-
vrat had been undertak-
ing such surprise in-
spections by visiting
universitiesandbecause
of this, he is also very
popularamongstudents.
GUV DEVVRAT PICKS UP BROOM
Jaishankar meets US Charge
d'Affaires Elizabeth Jones
New Delhi (ANI): Unit-
ed States Charge
d’Affaires Elizabeth
JonescalledonExternal
Affairs Minister S Jais-
hankar here on Wednes-
day
. During the meeting,
the two sides discussed
ongoing progress in bi-
lateral cooperation.
“GladtoreceiveUSCd’A
Elizabeth Jones. Dis-
cussed the ongoing pro-
gress in our bilateral
cooperation,” Jais-
hankar said in a tweet.
Elizabeth Jones was
last month appointed as
Charge d’ Affaires ad in-
terim at Embassy in
New Delhi. Previously,
Jones served as Assis-
tant Secy of State for
EuropeandEurasia,act-
ing Assistant Secy of
State for the Near East.
Rajnath Singh during door-to-door campaign on Wednesday.
S Jaishankar Elizabeth Jones
in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Gujarat Governor Acharya
Devvrat cleans floor at Gujarat
Vidyapith on Wednesday.

06
INDIA
LALU TO UNDERGO
KIDNEY TRANSPLANT
ON DEC 5: TEJASHWI
Bihar: RJD president Lalu
Prasad will go under the
knife at Singapore on
December 5 for a kidney
transplant, his son and
Bihar Deputy C Tejashwi
Yadav said on Wednesday.
The RJD heir apparent
made the disclosure at
a rally in Kurhani as-
sembly segment, where
the disqualification of the
party’s MLA Anil Sahani
has necessitated a by-poll,
which, incidentally, is also
scheduled for Dec 5. “Lalu
ji wanted to be here, but
he is in Singapore where
he will undergo a kidney
transplant,” said Yadav.
BHARAT GAURAV
TRAIN FARES LIKELY
TO BE SLASHED
New Delhi: The fares of
the Bharat Gaurav trains
are likely to be slashed
by 20-30 per cent after
low occupancy forced the
IRCTC to cancel at least
two of its special tour
packages, sources said
here. The Railways’ nod
to the IRCTC to reduce
fares of the special train
comes barely a year after
the service was launched.
So far, the transporter has
managed to operate just
one service of the train on
the Ramayana circuit. The
AC-3 tier fare for an 18-day
tour in the Bharat Gaurav
tourist train is Rs 62,000.
INDIA, AUSTRALIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
TO COME INTO FORCE FROM DEC 29
New Delhi: A trade agreement between India and Aus-
tralia will be implemented from December 29, almost
nine months after the two sides signed a deal. “India
Australia consolidate their
long-standing partnership.
Economic Cooperation
Trade Agreement, realised
under the guidance of
leaders of both countries,
comes into effect from
December 29, 2022. ndia’s
President has approved the deal. The two nations signed
an interim free trade deal—Economic Cooperation and
Trade Agreement (ECTA)--in April and the Australian
Parliament ratified it last week.
LIGER STAR VIJAY DEVERAKONDA APPEARS
BEFORE ED IN MONEY LAUNDERING CASE
New Delhi: Popular Tollywood actor Vijay Deverakonda
on Wednesday appeared before the ED in connection with
the investigation relating to sourcing
of funds for his recent film ‘Liger’. The
actor appeared before ED officials at the
agency’s regional office in Hyderabad.
The central agency is investigating the
alleged violation of Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA). As per
sources, Vijay Deverakonda is being
questioned about sources of funding for
the movie, his remuneration and payments made to other
actors including American boxer Mike Tyson.
CRUCIAL READ
Ahmedabad (PTI):
The Gujarat Anti-Ter-
rorist Squad has raided
a manufacturing unit
on the outskirts of Va-
dodara city and seized a
huge cache of the
banned mephedrone
drug and its raw mate-
rial worth Rs 478.65
crore, an ATS official
said on Wednesday
.
During the raid at the
small factory-cum-go-
down near Sindhrot vil-
lage of Vadodara dis-
trict on Tuesday night,
the ATS also arrested
five persons from the
spot, he said.
A preliminary in-
vestigation revealed
the accused were mak-
ing mephedrone, also
known MD drug, a nar-
cotic substance, for
the last 45 days in the
factory which was
erected using metal
sheets, the ATS said in
an official release.
During the raid, the
ATS recovered 63.6 kg
of mephedrone and
80.26 kg of its raw mate-
rial worth Rs 478.65
crore, the release said.
The machinery used
for manufacturing the
drug was also seized, it
said.
Those arrested have
been identified as
Saumil Pathak,
Shailesh Kataria, Vinod
Nijama, Mohammad
Shafi Dewan and
Bharat Chavda, the re-
lease said.
The investigation re-
vealed Vadodara resi-
dent Saumil Pathak had
learnt the process of
making narcotic drugs
from the ‘dark web’ and
roped in others after
setting up the unit near
Sindhrot, the ATS said.
Accused Kataria, a
chemistry graduate,
used to work as a chem-
ist at the factory to pro-
duce the MD drug using
various materials,
while the three others
used to handle other lo-
gistical operations, the
release said.
The probe revealed
Mumbai Police caught
Pathak with drugs in
2017 and he was then
sent to jail.
During his time in
jail, he came in contact
with one Salim Dola,
who gave Pathak guid-
ance about drug manu-
facturing and also ar-
ranged the raw mate-
rial for him, the ATS
release said.
Gujarat ATS recovers
mephedrone, five held
—Image for representational purpose only
AdaniPortinKerala:Some
supporting,othersprotesting
New Delhi: The Kerala
police on Wednesday
said they will not allow
a Hindu group close to
the ruling BJP to march
in support of a mega
$900-million port by the
Adani Group amid ten-
sion over protests led by
Catholic priests.
Members of the Hin-
du United Front have
announced a march to
the port in Vizhinjam
to pledge their sup-
port for a project they
say will create jobs in
the region.
Construction has
been stalled for almost
four months by pro-
testers from a fishing
community who say
the port, being built
by Asia's richest and
the world's third rich-
est man, Gautam Ada-
ni, is causing erosion
that has hit their live-
lihoods.
Protesting villagers
yesterday blocked
trucks carrying con-
struction material to
the project site. An at-
tempt by the police to
intervene triggered
clashes in which more
than 80 people were in-
jured.
The police said secu-
rity had been increased
around the port to pre-
vent the Hindu group
from reaching it. Rein-
forcements have al-
ready been sent to the
Vizhinjam area after
more than 3,000 villag-
ers stormed a police
station in clashes on
Sunday.
We have denied per-
mission to the rally by
the Hindu United
Front. We have taken
enough precautions to
prevent it if the front
defy the order, Trivan-
drum Deputy Commis-
sioner of Police Ajith V
was quoted as telling
Reuters.
The port is of strate-
gic importance to In-
dia. It is set to be India's
first container tran-
shipment hub, rival-
ling Dubai, Singapore
and Sri Lanka for busi-
ness on the lucrative
east-west trade routes.
Both the Adani Group
and the government of
Kerala have denied ac-
cusations the port is
causing environmental
damage.
Police force around Adani’s port project in Kerala’s Vizhinjam.
Dhaka (PTI): Newly-
appointed Indian High
Commissioner to Bang-
ladesh Pranay Verma
called o n PM Sheikh
Hasina here on Wednes-
day during which they
pledged to work togeth-
er to curb terrorism in
the region. Verma, a
1994-batch IFS officer,
met Hasina a month af-
ter presenting his cre-
dentials to President
Abdul Hamid on Octo-
ber 27. “India has a poli-
cy for neighbouring
countries. But Bangla-
desh gets the highest
priority. Bangladesh al-
ways gets priority in
any case,” Verma was
quoted as saying by a
PMO spokesperson dur-
ing his meeting with PM
Hasina at her official
Ganabhaban residence.
India, B’desh
pledge to work
together to
curb terrorism
New Delhi (PTI): Ta-
ble tennis legend
Achanta Sharath Ka-
mal was on Wednesday
bestowed with the Ma-
jor Dhyan Chand Khel
Ratna, the country’s
highest sporting hon-
our, by President Drou-
padi Murmu in a glit-
tering National Sports
Awards ceremony at
the Rashtrapati Bhavan
here on Wednesday
.
While Sharath is the
lone Khel Ratna award
recipient, 25 sportsper-
sons, including shut-
tlers Lakshya Sen, HS
Prannoy, woman boxer
Nikhat Zareen, track
and field athletes Eld-
hose Paul and Avinash
Sable, were conferred
with the Arjuna Award.
The creme de la
creme of Indian sports
were recognised for
their achievements in
the past few years at a
specially organised cer-
emony
.
The event is tradi-
tionally held every year
to commemorate the
birth anniversary of
hockey legend Major
Dhyan Chand on Au-
gust 29. But last year
also, the event was held
on another date.
The star attraction of
the ceremony was Shar-
ath, who received his
Khel Ratna award amid
thunderous applause
from the select dignitar-
ies present at the Dur-
bar Hall.
The Khel Ratna is
given for the spectacu-
lar and most outstand-
ing performances by a
sportsperson over a pe-
riod of previous four
years. It carries a cash
prize of Rs 25 lakh, a
medal and a scroll of
honour. The Arjuna
award carries a cash
prize of Rs 15 lakh, a
bronze statue and a
scroll of honour.
Sharath Kamal conferred with Khel Ratna award
NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS 2022
President Droupadi Murmu confers Major Dhyan Chand Khel
Ratna Award on Achanta Sharath Kamal.
Qatar (ANI): Eng-
land head coach Ga-
reth Southgate ap-
plauded Marcus
Rashford’s impres-
sive showing in the
team’s 3-0 win over
Wales where the for-
ward managed to
score a brace on
Wednesday
.
“It’s great for Mar-
cus Rashford, he has
trained really well. I
have to say
, he’s really
beenimpressivesince
he came back in with
us. He could have had
a hat trick, couldn’t
he? And the free kick
is what he’s capable
of, it’s an incredible
strike really,” ex-
pressed Southgate,
quoted ESPN as re-
ported by BBC.
“In moments I
thought both Foden
and Rash were quiet
in the first half, we
decided to switch
wings, and I thought
thatmightallowthem
to go on the outside
and also the chance to
come in and they re-
sponded really well,
so for both to get the
goals is great,” said
the England boss.
Southgate hails Rashford
after 3-0 win over Wales
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: The Aam
Aadmi Party has adopt-
ed all the ‘old methods’
of politics. The party
has no problem in dis-
tributing tickets on the
basis of religion and
caste, nor does it have
any problem in giving
tickets to people with
criminal antecedents to
win elections. All par-
ties doing traditional
politics give priority to
winning candidates
while selecting candi-
dates but at the same
time take care of some
ethics. But the Aam
Aadmi Party has gone
so far ahead in selecting
winnable candidates
that it has fielded candi-
dates with a maximum
criminal record in the
Gujarat assembly elec-
tions and the municipal
elections in Delhi.
In Gujarat, polling is
to be held on 89 seats in
the first phase, and out
of these 89 seats, AAP
has given 32 candidates
who have criminal cas-
es against them. Out of
these, there are 26 can-
didates who have seri-
ous criminal cases
against them. Similarly
,
out of 250 candidates of
the Municipal Corpora-
tion of Delhi, 45 candi-
dates of AAP have a
criminal record more
than 20 of them have
serious criminal cases.
Is criminality AAP’s way
of coming to power?
Adelaide (PTI) Indian
men’s hockey team
stunned world number
one side Australia 4-3 in
the third Test to regis-
ter a rare win and keep
the five-match series
alive here on Wednes-
day
.
Skipper Harman-
preet Singh (12th min-
ute), Abhishek (47th),
Shamsher Singh (57th)
and Akashdeep Singh
(60th) scored for India.
Australia’s goals
came from the sticks of
Jack Welch (25th), skip-
per Aran Zalewski
(32nd) and Nathan
Ephraums (59th).
After Wednesday’s
win, India trailed 1-2 in
the series. The visitors
had lost 4-5 and 4-7 in
the first two Tests.
India shock Australia 4-3
in 3rd hockey test
New Delhi: India lost
the three-match ODI se-
ries against New Zea-
land 0-1 after the third
game was called off due
to rain on Wednesday.
Sent in to bat, India
were all out for 219 in
47.3 overs with Wash-
ington Sundar (51) and
Shreyas Iyer (49) doing
the bulk of the scoring.
In reply, New Zealand
were comfortably
placed at 104 for one in
18 overs when the heav-
ens opened up.
Match called off;
NZ win series
1-0 against India
JK(ANI): The BSF-
has worked well and
kept the international
border incident-free de-
spite several efforts of
neighbouring regions,
Inspector General BSF
(Jammu frontier) DK
Boora said on Wednes-
day. BSF IG Boora was
addressing a press con-
ference, and said, BSF
has worked well and
keeps borders incident-
free despite several ef-
forts of neighbouring
regions. In the last
one year, we have kept
border incident free.
There have been at-
tempts from the other
side but we have kept
the international bor-
ders secure, he said.
There were seven at-
tempts of infiltration at
the border and all were
foiled, he pointed out.
He added that four
AK 47 rifles, ammuni-
tion, and 50 kilograms
of Heroin were recov-
ered.
BSF IG Boora also
mentioned that Jammu
Frontier has been given
the best Frontier trophy
this year, and said, I
congratulate officers
and jawans for that.
Our international border is safe
and incident-free:BSF IG DK Boora
Pune (PTI): Chief of
Naval Staff Admiral R
Hari Kumar on Wednes-
day said the integration
of aircraft with the
newly commissioned
aircraft carrier INS
Vikrant is likely to be
accomplished by May
or June next year.
The sea-going trials
are already over after
which the carrier was
commissioned. Now,
the aircraft integration
trials have been started,
he told reporters after
reviewing the Passing
Out Parade of the 143rd
course of the NDA at
Khadakwasla in Maha-
rashtra’s Pune district.
Integration of
aircraft with INS
Vikrant likely by
June: Navy chief
DGP Pankaj Kumar Singh addresses the media on Annual Press
Meet 2022 prior to the BSF Day at BSF Aswini Officers Institute,
in New Delhi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
kAashdeep Singh competes
with Ky Willott.
FIFA WORLD CUP
England’s players celebrate a goal during the match against
Wales in the FIFA World Cup 2022, at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
Qatar (ANI): History will be made when Costa
Rica face Germany on December 1 at the Al
Bayt Stadium when France’s Stephanie Frap-
part will become the first woman in the history
of the FIFA World Cup to referee a finals match
in the men’s tournament. Frappart, who will
be the first woman to referee a men’s World
Cup match, will be joined by assistant refer-
ees Neuza Back of Brazil and Mexico’s Karen
Diaz Medina for the crucial Group E game on
Thursday, Fifa announced on Tuesday. “The
men’s World Cup is the most important sporting
competition in the world. I was the first referee
in France and in Europe, so I know how to deal
with it,” Frappart said in an official statement
released by FIFA.com. Before the World Cup,
Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees
Committee, said of the three female referees
at the World Cup: “They were not selected
because they are women but as FIFA referees.
They could officiate any game.”
STEPHANIE FRAPPART FIRST FEMALE
REFEREE AT MEN’S WORLD CUP GAME
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
MACHINERY SEIZED

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 53,300.00 71.00 0.13 (Per 10g)
SILVER 63,199.00 66.00 0.10 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 81.38 0.34 0.41
GBPINR 97.02 0.56 0.57
CURRENCIES
Samsung India plans to hire 1K engineers
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Samsung In-
dia is planning to hire
around 1,000 engineers for
its research and develop-
ment institutes across In-
dia, the company said on
Wednesday
.
The young engineers
will join the company in
2023, and will work on new-
age technologies at its RD
institutes in Bengaluru,
Noida, Delhi and at Sam-
sung Semiconductor India
Research in Bengaluru.
“Strengthening their fo-
cus on innovation and cut-
ting-edge technology, Sam-
sung’s RD centres aim to
hire new talent from In-
dia’s top engineering insti-
tutes who will work on
breakthrough innovations,
technologies, products and
designs, including India-
centric innovations, that
enrich people’s lives.
“This will further our vi-
sion of Powering Digital
India,” Samsung India
head for Human Resources
Sameer Wadhawan said in
a statement. The Korean
electronics major will re-
cruit engineers from
streams such as CSE.
FROM IITs, TOP INSTITUTES FOR RD UNITS
TO WORK ON
NEW AGE TECH
z The young engineers will
join the company in 2023,
and will work on new-age
technologies at its RD
institutes in Bengaluru,
Noida, Delhi and at
Samsung Semiconductor
India Research in
Bengaluru.
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi (FIB): Low-
cost fashion brand HM
on Wednesday said that it
will be reducing its global
workforce by around
1,500 positions as part of
a plan to reduce costs and
further improve efficiency.
The Sweden-based com-
pany said a restructuring
charge of 800 million kro-
nor ($76 million) will be
booked in the last three
months of the year. The
staff reduction is estimat-
ed to provide annual sav-
ings of about 2 billion kro-
nor ($190 million). Be-
sides the clothing retailer,
the group includes brands
like COS, Monki, Week-
day, Cheap Monday,
Other Stories.
New Delhi (PTI): State-
owned NMDC on Wednes-
day hiked the prices of
iron ore lumps and fines
by `300 per tonne with
immediate effect. Recently
government removed duty
on the exports of the min-
eral. The price for a tonne
of lump ore or high-grade
iron ore having Fe (iron)
content 65.53% and
above has been fixed at
`4,100. While the rate of
fines or inferior grade ore
with 64% and less Fe con-
tent has been increased to
Rs 2,910 per tonne,
NMDC said in a BSE filing.
NMDC HIKES LUMP
ORE, FINES PRICES
BY `300/ TONNE
FASHION RETAILER
HM TO CUT 1,500
JOBS WORLDWIDE
New Delhi (PTI): Invest-
ment in technology start-
ups in the agriculture and
food sector jumped over
twofold to $4.6 billion
during the last fiscal on
the back of higher inflow
in restaurant marketplace
and e-grocery, according
to a report by AgFunder
and Omnivore. Total in-
vestment in agrifoodtech
startups for India’s fiscal
year (FY) 2022 stood at
$4.6 billion, up 119%
from FY2021. Deal vol-
ume also increased to 234
in FY2022.
INVESTMENT IN AGRI
TECH STARTUPS
JUMPS 2-FOLD
New Delhi (PTI): The
Ministry of Power on
Wednesday said outstand-
ing dues of electricity dis-
tribution firms (discoms)
towards gencos, transcos
and traders have come
down by `24,680 crore
to `1,13,269 crore in the
last six months. The total
outstanding dues of
states (discoms) which
were at `1,37,949 crore
as on June 3, 2022 have
been reduced by `24,680
crore to `1,13,269 crore
with timely payment of
just four EMIs (equated
monthly installments),
it stated.
DISCOM DUES DIP
BY `24,689 CRORE
IN SIX MONTHS
*Rates till the edition went to print.
PARIKH PANEL SUBMITS
GAS REPORT, SUGGESTS
PRICING FREEDOM
New Delhi (PTI): A govern-
ment-appointed gas price re-
view panel, led by Kirit Parikh
on Wednesday
submitted its
report to the
government,
recommend-
ing a floor and ceiling price
for legacy fields and complete
pricing freedom starting
January 1, 2026. A fixed
band of pricing for gas from
legacy fields would ensure a
predictable pricing regime for
producers and at the same
time moderate prices of CNG.
IEX SEEKS
SHAREHOLDERS' NOD
TO BUYBACK SHARES
New Delhi (PTI): Indian
Energy Exchange (IEX) will
seek shareholders’ approval
through postal
ballot to buy-
back shares
worth up to
`98 crore.
The board of directors in its
meeting on November 25
has approved the cash offer
for buyback of equity shares
of face value of `1 each at a
maximum price of `200 per
share for an aggregate amount
up to `98 crore. The e-voting
will commence on Thursday.
GOVT ENVISIONS DOUBLING MSME SECTOR'S
CONTRIBUTION TO INDIA'S ECONOMY: MINISTER
New Delhi (PTI): The govern-
ment envisages doubling the
contribution of India’s micro,
small and medium enterprises
sector to the economy by realis-
ing its full potential, Union Minis-
ter Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma
said on Wednesday. The Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSME) sector contributes one-third to India’s gross domestic
product (GDP). The Minister of State for MSME said the Ministry
is working towards this objective by resolving bottlenecks.
New Delhi (PTI): The government on
Wednesday sought views from the
industry about the existing national
design policy and aims to come out with
an updated policy before August 15,
2023. The National Design Policy was
approved by the government in February
2007. Its objectives include promotion
of Indian design through a well-defined and managed regulatory,
promotional and institutional framework; and setting up of special-
ised design centres or innovation hubs for different sectors.
HOPE TO COME OUT WITH UPDATED NATIONAL
DESIGN POLICY BEFORE AUGUST 15: DPIIT SECY
OTHER STORIES
‘INDIA WILL SUCCEED IN
HANDLING INFLATION’
New Delhi (PTI): Finance
Minister Nirmala Sithara-
man on Wednesday exuded
confidence that India will
succeed in handling infla-
tion better as it has already
put in place a “very good
framework” in place to ad-
dress supply side pressures
on food prices.
The retail inflation based
on the CPI has remained
above the RBI’s comfort
level of 6% since January.
She also acknowledged
that inflation due to im-
ports of commodities like
crude oil is going to persist.
“We probably will suc-
ceed in handling inflation
better and there is clearly a
picture from the RBI that is
on a downward slide and it
will be well within the tol-
erance band by early next
year or middle of next
year,” said the minister
who is scheduled to present
the Budget for 2023-24.
Sitharaman further said
inflation is going to be in-
fluenced by external fac-
tors but within India, “we
are comfortable” in terms
of agricultural supplies,
and energy among others.
“I look forward to a good,
fast growing Indian econo-
my and the next year,” she
said.
New Delhi (PTI): The Reserve Bank’s modified guidelines on digital
lending that seek to protect customers from exorbitant interest rates
by certain entities and also check unethical loan recovery practices
will come into effect from Thursday. Under the new norms, all
loan disbursals and repayments are required to be executed only
between the bank accounts of borrower and the regulated entities
(like banks and NBFCs) without any pass-through/ pool account of
the Lending Service Providers (LSPs). Also, “any fees, charges, etc,
payable to LSPs in the credit intermediation process shall be paid
directly by RE and not by the borrower”, the Reserve Bank said in a
press release while conveying the regulatory stance.
RBI’S MODIFIED DIGITAL LENDING NORMS
TO COME INTO EFFECT FROM TODAY
Mumbai (PTI): Bench-
mark BSE Sensex settled
above the 63,000-level for
the first time on Wednes-
day, extending its win-
ning momentum to sev-
enth day amid a largely
positive trend in global
markets and continuous
foreign fund inflows.
The 30-share barome-
ter rallied 417.81 points
or 0.67% to settle at
63,099.65, its fresh record
closing high. The broad-
er NSE Nifty advanced
140.30 points or 0.75% to
end at 18,758.35, its fresh
record closing high.
Among the Sensex
pack, Mahindra Mahi-
ndra, UltraTech Cement,
Power Grid, Hindustan
Unilever, Bharti Airtel,
Asian Paints, Tata Steel
and Titan were major
gainers. IndusInd
Bank, State Bank of In-
dia, HCL Technologies
and ITC were among
the laggards.
Sensex hits 63K mark for first
time; Nifty ends at fresh high
New Delhi (PTI): The market
capitalisation of BSE-listed
firms reached an all-time
high of Rupees 288.50 lakh
crore on Wednesday amid
an ongoing rally in equities.
Investors wealth climbed
Rupees 7,59,642.89 crore
in seven days, taking the
market capitalisation (mcap)
of BSE-listed firms to Rupees
2,88,50,896.03 crore.
MCAP OF BSE-LISTED
FIRMS AT ALL-TIME
HIGH OF `288.50 L CR
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee
appreciated 34 paise to
close at 81.38 (provision-
al) against the US dollar
on Wednesday as a weak
greenback in the overseas
market and a rally in
domestic equities boosted
investor sentiment. At
the interbank foreign ex-
change market, the local
unit opened at 81.63 and touched an intra-day high of 81.38 and
a low of 81.64 against the greenback. The local unit finally settled
at 81.38, registering a rise of 34 paise over its previous close.
RUPEE GAINS 34 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.38
AGAINST AMERICAN CURRENCY
New Delhi (PTI): Retail
inflation for industrial
workers rose to 6.08% in
October from 6.49% in Sep-
tember 2022 mainly due to
lower prices of certain food
items, according to the gov-
ernment data released on
Wednesday
.
Year-on-year inflation
for the month stood at
6.08% compared to 6.49%
for the previous month
(September) and 4.52%
during the corresponding
month (October 2021) a
year before, a labour min-
istry statement said.
Similarly, it stated that
food inflation stood at
6.52% against 7.76% of the
previous month (Septem-
ber, 2022) and 2.20% during
the corresponding month
(October 2021) a year ago.
The All-India CPI-IW
(consumer price index for
industrial workers) for Oc-
tober, 2022 increased by 1.2
points and stood at 132.5
points. It was 131.3 points
in September 2022.
In terms of one-month
percentage change, it in-
creased by 0.91% with re-
spect to previous month
compared to an increase of
1.30% recorded between
corresponding months a
year ago.
Retailinflationforindustrialworkerseases
Fiscal deficit at
45.6% of full-year
target in October
New Delhi (PTI): The gov-
ernment’s fiscal deficit at
the end of October touched
45.6% of the full year budg-
et estimate, as per data re-
leased by the CGA on
Wednesday
.
In actual terms, the fis-
cal deficit -- the difference
between expenditure and
revenue -- was `7,58,137
crore during the April-Oc-
tober period of 2022-23.
In the corresponding pe-
riod last year, the deficit
was 36.3% of the budget
estimates of 2021-22.
For 2022-23, the fiscal
deficit of the government
is estimated to be `16.61
lakh crore or 6.4% of GDP.
Go First adds 55th
Airbus A320neo
aircraft to its fleet
Mumbai (ANI): TMumbai
(ANI): Go First, formerly
known as GoAir, on
Wednesday inducted the
55th Airbus A320neo air-
craft to its fleet of next-
generation aircraft.
According to Go First, the
airline has placed firm or-
ders for the delivery of 144
Airbus A320neo aircraft as
part of its expansion plan.
With this induction, Go
First’s fleet now comprises
60 aircraft, of which 55 are
A320neo and 5 are A 320ceo.
In line with Go First’s stra-
tegic growth plan, the air-
craft induction will aid the
growing demand on its ex-
isting and new routes.
P-notes investment hits
1-yr high in October 2022
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Investment in
the Indian capital markets
through participatory
notes rose to `97,784 crore
at the end of October, the
highest in a year.
This was also the third
consecutive monthly in-
crease in investments
through such a route.
Participatory notes (P-
notes) are issued by regis-
tered foreign Portfolio In-
vestors (FPIs) to overseas
investors who wish to be
part of the Indian stock
market without registering
themselves directly. They,
however,needtogothrough
a due diligence process.
According to Sebi data,
the value of P-note invest-
ments in Indian markets --
equity, debt, and hybrid
securities -- stood at `97,784
crore in October-end, as
compared to `88,813 crore
at the end of September.
October P-notes invest-
ment level was the highest
since Oct 2021, when invest-
ment through this route
stood at `1.02 lakh crore.
Core sector growth slows
down to 0.1% in Oct
New Delhi (PTI): The
growth rate in the produc-
tion of eight key sectors
slowed down to a 20-month
low of 0.1% in October on
account of contraction in
the output of crude oil,
natural gas, refinery prod-
ucts, and cement, accord-
ing to the official data re-
leased on Wednesday
.
In October last year,
these sectors expanded by
8.7%. In September this
year, the core sectors’ out-
put growth stood at 7.8%.
Last time it was in Feb-
ruary 2021, when the eight
infrastructure sectors --
coal, crude oil, natural gas,
refinery products, fertilis-
er, steel, cement and elec-
tricity -- recorded a nega-
tive growth of 3.3%.
The growth rate during
April-October this fiscal
was 8.2% as against 15.6% a
year ago. In October, crude
oil, natural gas, refinery
products, and cement out-
put recorded negative
growth rate. However, ferti-
liser output rose by 5.4% in
the month under review.

08
2NDFRONT
Dream big dreams, the highest possible
but also savour your present, the place
where you are, at any given time.
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Redevelopment will kill
Dharavi’sidentity:Locals
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Local resi-
dents of Dharavi, the
biggest slum colony in
Mumbai, have ex-
pressed reservations
about its redevelop-
ment. The Adani
Group may have
emerged as the high-
est bidder for the pro-
ject, but residents are
not really happy with
the idea of redevelop-
ment with some say-
ing the area will lose
its “international
identity” as a large
number of foreigners
visit it as tourists.
Most of the locals fear
that redevelopment will
kill the small businesses
in Dharavi that it is
known for and that they
arecontentwiththeway
things are at present.
They said they are un-
certain about what they
will be offered after re-
development.
Dharavi, located in
central part of the coun-
try’s financial capital, is
a hub for several small-
scale, unorganized in-
dustries that manufac-
ture medicines, leather,
footwear, clothes among
other things. It is known
as one of Asia’s biggest
slum clusters.
The Adani Group has
emerged as the highest
bidder for the 259-hec-
tare Dharavi Redevelop-
ment Project. The group
has put in a Rs5,069
crore bid for the redevel-
opment of one of the
largest slum sprawls in
the world, outbidding
DLF, which had quoted
Rs2,025 crore, said SVR
Srinivas, Chief Execu-
tive Officer of the pro-
ject, on Tuesday
.
Paul Raphel, who
runs Dharavi Nagrik
Seva Sangh said, “We
are not happy as the
land that houses Asia’s
biggest slum is being
handed over to Adani
Group. There are thou-
sands of huts in Dhara-
vi and four to five fami-
lies reside in each hut.
But after redevelop-
ment, they will get only
one flat, which may not
be sufficient for them.”
Mahesh Ankush
Kawle, a resident of
Shastri Nagar in Dhara-
vi said politicians and
builders have started
visiting the place to play
with the sentiments of
the local residents as
elections are nearing.
The redevelopment project should be completed in time. The
Dharavi Rehabilitation Project (DRP) was approved in
2004, but nothing happened. Around 50% residents of
Dharavi run small-scale businesses from their houses, and the
population is around 12 lakh. We welcome the government
decision, but it should be implemented in time.
—Ramakant Gupta, President of Dharavi Bachao Andolan
Residents of biggest Mumbai slum
feel small-scale businesses will be
finished as new accommodations
may not be enough
The Dharavi slum sprawl is home to around 7 lakh people. —FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
A large number of foreigners from different countries visit
Dharavi as tourists to see from close quarters its ethos
and character. But once the huts are demolished (for
redevelopment), Dharavi will lose its appeal and international
identity. The locals will shift out of Mumbai once the
redevelopment starts. —Ayyub Sheikh, local resident
PEOPLE
SPEAK
Was in Forest Dept jeep
says Raveena Tandon
amid investigation
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Clearing the
air about her visit to
the Satpura Tiger Re-
serve, actor Raveena
Tandon on Wednesday
said that she was in a
Forest Department-li-
censed jeep that did
not deviate from the
designated tourist
path.
An inquiry has been
launched by authorities
into a video that pur-
portedly showed she
had been in a vehicle
driving close to a tigress
in the protected area.
In a tweet, Tandon
clarified that she was ac-
companied on the safari
by trained guides and
drivers provided by the
Forest Department dur-
ing her visit to the re-
serve on November 22.
Along with a Novem-
ber 25 video report of a
local news channel, the
actor posted on Twitter:
“#satpuratigerreserve
.@News18MP reports. A
tiger gets close to the
deputy rangers bike.
One can never predict
when and how tigers
will react. It’s the Forest
Department licensed ve-
hicle, with their guides
and drivers who are
trained to know their
boundaries and legali-
ties (sic).”
She and her fellow
passengers sat quietly
and watched the tigress
move on, she said.
“We were on the tour-
ism path, which mostly
these tigers cross. And
Katy the tigress in this
video as well is habitu-
ated to coming close to
vehicles and snarling,”
she added.
In another tweet, she
wrote: “Tigers are kings
of where they roam. We
are silent spectators…”
The video, which was
circulated on social me-
dia, showed the safari
vehicle passing too close
to the tigress. In the clip,
camera shutters are
heard making sounds
and a tigress is seen
roaring at them.
A video showing
the actor’s vehicle
passing quite
close to a tigress
prompted action
by authorities
Actor Raveena Tandon visited the Satpura Tiger Reserve on November 22. —FILE PHOTO
5 henchmen
of Dawood’s
gang trying to
grab property
arrested
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Mumbai
Police arrested five
henchmen of under-
world don and 1993 se-
rial blasts accused Da-
wood Ibrahim on
Tuesday for allegedly
forging a document in
a bid to grab property
.
The complainant told
the police that his prop-
erty worth Rs25 crore
was usurped through
forged documents. The
accused, identified as
MuslimAsgaraliUmret-
wala, Sherzada Jangrej
Khan, Aslam Abdul Re-
hman Patni, Rizwan
Alauddin Shaikh, and
Salim Fruit, were re-
manded to police custo-
dy
. They were booked
under relevant sections
of theIndianPenalCode
(IPC).
“The anti-extortion
cell of the Mumbai
Crime Branch has ar-
rested Chhota Shakeel’s
relative Salim Fruit in
that case,” said Mumbai
police in a statement.
Notably
, the crime
branch detained Salim
Fruit from Taloja Jail in
Navi Mumbai where he
was under custody
.
Complainant said
that his property
worth `25 crore was
usurped through
forged documents
Special court denies bail
to ex-min Nawab Malik
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Former Ma-
harashtra minister
Nawab Malik was de-
nied bail in a money
laundering case by a
special court on
Wednesday. The case
is linked to a land deal
that involves fugitive
gangster Dawood
Ibrahim and his aides.
Special Judge for Pre-
vention of Money Laun-
deringAct(PMLA)cases
RNRokadehadreserved
his order on Malik’s bail
plea on November 14.
According to offi-
cials, the judge refused
bail saying two condi-
tions under Section 45
of the PMLA—which
says court can grant
bail if it believes the ac-
cused is not guilty pri-
ma facie or the court
believes that the ac-
cused shall not commit
any other offence after
being released—were
not satisfied.
Four African nationals held
after cops bust job racket
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A database of
two lakh email IDs and
more than a lakh mobile
phone numbers was re-
covered when four Afri-
can nationals were ar-
rested by the cyber cell
of Mumbai police for
running a job scam and
committing other relat-
ed frauds online.
The four accused, two
of them women, were
from Zambia, Uganda,
Namibia and Ghana,
and had come to India
on a student visa. Visas
of three of them were
found to have expired,
said an official on
Wednesday. The police
began investigations af-
ter a man had claimed
with the cyber cell in
Bandra Kurla Complex
(BKC) here that he had
been duped of Rs26
lakh, between April and
July, under the pretext
of getting him a job in
the United States.
They used 2 lakh
emails, 1 lakh mobile
phone numbers to
run the scam, other
frauds online
OUTRAGED
Members of the
All India Working
Women Forum
and National
Federation of
Indian Women
held a protest
against Baba
Ramdev’s recent
derogatory
comments
on women at
Dadar station
in Mumbai on
Wednesday.
—PHOTO BY
BHUSHAN
KOYANDE
Nawab Malik —FILE PHOTO
 Carpet bombing of
rallies have happened
in Gujarat. Now what
results do you expect?
JP Nadda: I see that Gu-
jarat’s people are one
sided in favour of BJP
.
Everyone has an un-
breakable love and trust
towards PM Modi and
with that Gujarat unit
has worked a lot. Our
CM Bhupendra Patel,
state president CR Patil
and other leaders have
worked with utmost
hard work and commit-
ment and campaigned
for the party along with
our leaders who came
from outside. Moreover,
have also made up their
mind that they will bless
the BJP
.
 If AAP opens its ac-
count this time around,
will it be a challenge in
the next election?
We do not have any chal-
lenge. AAP goes to every
state, contests election
and claims it will form
government but later
their security on all the
seats gets forefeited. It is
anon-startedparty
.Here
too AAP will face the
same situation.
 Does BJP gain
strength from Cong’s
usage of words like Ra-
van or king of lies?
With the love that people
of India have for PM
Modi, they react to such
comments and so do the
people of Gujarat. But
what needs to be under-
stood is that Sonia Gan-
dhi and Rahul Gandhi
have not been able to di-
gest that Modiji has be-
come PM. Hence they
givesuchstatementsand
othersfollowsuit.Kharge
sahab would give state-
ments which make Soni-
aji and Rahulji happy
.
 What will be the im-
pact of anti-radical
issue mentioned in
your manifesto?
Not only Gujarat, we
think on these lines for
the entire nation. Every
body has cancerous and
TB cells, but if the body
is strong, these cells do
not grow much. Simi-
larly
,inournation,,who
are anti-nationals, they
want to divide India and
to keep an eye on them
there is a need of Anti-
radical cell.
 It is being said that
first phase of poll is
Cong dominated.
What is strategy?
They will not get any-
thing and it will be a one
sided result. People will
support BJP and all re-
cords will be broken.
 How do you see your
Rajasthan tour start-
ing Thursday?
Definitely
,theill-govern-
ance of Gehlot Sahab’s
government has made
the citizens want for re-
lief. Our role is of oppsi-
tion and we will carry it
outwithutmoststrength.
 Where ever we go in
Gujarat, there is al-
ways Modi’s name
everywhere...
Amit Shah: It is but
natural. He is our big-
gest leader and wher-
eever in the nation there
is an election, people
love and like Modiji’s
name and Gujarat is
Modiji’s home state. it
was from here that he
started the developmen-
tal politics in nation. So
it is obvious that people
are happy with Modiji’s
name and feel proud too.
 Is this why Malliar-
jun Kharge targets
Narendra Modi? Per-
haps he cannot see
any other target?
See, the culture of using
fould words that has
been promoted by Sonia
Gandhi and Rahul Gan-
dhi, I feel that as many
times bad words or re-
marks have been made
for Modiji, the people of
Gujarat had given their
decision with an even
bigger majority
. This
time too the same shall
happen.
 Will AAP open its
account?
A: Looking at the envi-
ronment it does not
seem so. But let’s see
what happens in future.
On phase 1 voting eve, BJP’s top shots predict massive victory in Guj
In a tete-a-tete with First India’s Aditi Nagar, Union Home Minister
Amit Shah and BJP National President JP Nadda stressed that the
BJP will break its own previous record of seats won in election
Amit Shah
JP Nadda

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, THURSDAY,
DECEMBER 1, 2022
FIRST INDIA QUEEN
A RAY OF PURE
Suhani Chauhan, one of the finalists of First India Queen shares
her inspiring journey in an exclusive chat with City First
BEAUTY!
ou are bound to
be successful if
you do some-
thing you love
with passion.
R a v i s h i n g
beauty Suhani
Chauhan’s inspiring
story perfectly fits here.
The 19-year-old diva was
born and brought up in
Noida, while describing
her personality Suhani
Said, “I’m currently pur-
suing English Honours
from Delhi University
.
Dancing is my way to es-
cape the cruelties of the
world. When I am upset
and start dancing, my
mind wanders to other
possibilities, which
helps me feel better. Be-
sides dancing, painting
gives me happiness too,
itisaformof expression
and more of natural tal-
ent. When I paint or
draw, I am completely
immersed in this hobby
of mineandIliketoread
as well. Apart from my
hobbies, I describe my-
self as a confident, viva-
cious and optimistic per-
sonwithanopenmindto
learn and evolve.”
When asked about her
journey the beauty said,
“Hailing from a family
where academic career
is always their first pri-
ority
, I decided to choose
my own path and fulfil
my dream of being a
beauty pageant winner. I
was 15 when I made up
mymindthatIwantedto
do this and after that, it
was years of hard work
for building that confi-
dence, all those qualities
that are required to be
the one. It is rightly
said that doing the
bestatthismoment
puts you in the best
place for the next
moment and final-
ly, here I am step-
ping into my own
passion and out-
side of what my
family has ever
done and I’m so
excited for what
the future holds
for me.”
The diva strongly be-
lieves that hard work
teaches us discipline,
dedication and deter-
minationwhilesharing
her vision, she said
“Mypageantjourneyso
far made me realize that
it’s not going to be easy
but it’s going to be worth
it. All you have to do is
stay strong, optimistic
and work hard no mat-
ter what I believe you
are never denied only
redirected and the only
thing that stands be-
tween you and your
dream is the will to try
and the belief that it is
actually possible.
The exquisite beauty
further said, “I am im-
mensely grateful to Dr
Jagdeesh Chandra and
the First India Queen
for providing us with
this wonderful plat-
form, something amaz-
ing like this can only be
envisaged by JC sir,
First India Queen has
given me some mem-
orable moments of
my life.”
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
Y

01122022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

01122022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 01122022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

Similar to 01122022_First India_Mumbai.pdf (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

01122022_First India_Mumbai.pdf