11082022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

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MUMBAI l THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 97
STAFF SHORTAGE
MANTRALAYA CANTEEN STARVED OF PERSONNEL
Renni Abraham
Mumbai: Cabinetmeet-
ings at Mantralaya, the
state secretariat of Ma-
harashtra, always wit-
nesses hectic activity
and large crowds of fa-
vour seekers thronging
the corridors of power.
The menu of snacks for
the 20 strong council of
ministers, including the
18 newly minted minis-
ters without official
portfolios as yet, is also
a big affair.
The “specials” of the
past two days included
cashewnut laden Batata
Wadas, Cutlets, Upma,
Dhokla and an assort-
ment of dry fruits and
exclusively ordered
Bengali sweets for Ma-
harashtra’s council of
ministers. These rolled
out from the canteen to
the seventh-floor cabi-
net room on Wednesday
,
where Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde, Deputy
CM Fadnavis and 17 of
the 18 new cabinet mem-
bers (Sudhir Munganti-
war gave the meeting a
miss) were discussing
important aspects of
the state.
The canteen also wit-
nessed a record footfall
of 1,200-plus, resulting
in food shortages.
Worse, catering all but
collapsed Tuesday and
Wednesday with the
canteen services at
Mantralaya coming un-
der severe stress. The
‘Acharya’ (Chief Chef)
who had to man the
kitchen from 8 am to
well past midnight on
Tuesday, saw his work
hours on Wednesday
also get stretched to in-
ordinate lengths.
ThelateTuesday-night
meeting, in which Shin-
de and Fadnavis failed to
resolve the tangle over
portfolio allocation,
meant that the already
short-handedcanteende-
partment Turn to P5
While it has a sanctioned strength of 157 employees, the
canteen only has 90 personnel—making cabinet meeting
days particularly arduous
After Bihar debacle, BJP
concedes ground in Maha
Renni Abraham
Mumbai: Smarting
from the loss of the po-
litical battle in Bihar,
where JD(U) CM Nitish
Kumar outwitted the
party and formed a new
government with the
RJD and Congress par-
ties, the national leader-
ship of the Bharatiya
Janata Party is keen on
establishing a perma-
nent government in Ma-
harashtra.
With this in mind,
Home Minister Amit
Shah has instructed
Deputy CM Devendra
Fadnavis to concede to
the demands from the
rebel Sena camp MLAs.
The move comes even as
wrangling for cabinet
portfolios between the
party and CM Eknath
Shinde-led MLAs failed
to reach a consensus on
cabinet portfolio alloca-
tions for the 18 newly
inducted council of
ministers find a consen-
sus in Maharashtra for
the second day
.
With the fresh direc-
tives from Delhi Fad-
navis is likely to achieve
the elusive consensus
among all the 20 council
of ministers.
The Shinde faction
was also able to success-
fully negotiate for the
inclusion of MLAs San-
jay Rathod and Abdul
Sattar—apparently
tainted in the Pooja
Chavansuicidecaseand
TET scam case, respec-
tively, in the cabinet,
despite BJP reserva-
tions.
“CM Shinde fought
fortheirinclusioninthe
state council of minis-
ters and the BJP had to
concede. The Fadnavis
faction, with 115 MLAs
in its grouping, also had
to concede to a 50:50 cab-
inet expansion plan
also. Now discussions
will be held to bargain
in lieu of these three
portfolios that the Shin-
de camp has demand-
ed,” a person familiar
with the development
told First India.
The BJP had earlier
successfully elected the
new Speaker of the
State Legislative Assem-
bly from its faction in-
stallingRahulNarvekar,
a fairly recent entrant to
the party
. Subsequently
,
the Shinde faction has
been flexing its political
muscles to gain a more
than equal share of po-
litical power Turn to P5
While the sharing of cabinet portfolios was
already decided, the Shinde camp is now
demanding that the crucial Rural Develop-
ment, Agriculture and Social Welfare departments
be allocated to them. The BJP leadership in Delhi
has given consent to Fadnavis to concede to the de-
mands and ensure the permanency of the Maha-
rashtra government at any cost.
—Person familiar with the development
Amit Shah Devendra Fadnavis
BJP high
command has
assented to CM
Shinde faction’s
demands for three
portfolios to keep
the government
running in
Maharashtra
HARD DAYS
Catering all but collapsed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Not only did the canteen services at Mantralaya face
severe stress, the ‘Acharya’ (Chief Chef) who had to
man the kitchen from 8 am to well past midnight on
Tuesday, saw his work hours on Wednesday also get
stretched to inordinate lengths. The late Tuesday-
night meeting, in which Shinde and Fadnavis failed
to resolve the tangle over portfolio allocation, meant
that the already short-handed canteen department
had to dig deep to make it to the end of the day.
`1.16 L CR TAX DEVOLUTION GIVEN TO STATES
New Delhi: The central government on Wednesday released two
instalments of tax devolution to states amounting to Rs
1,16,665.75 crore as against the normal monthly devolution of
Rs.58,332.86 crore, the Ministry of Finance said.
OPPN MOVES
NO-CONFIDENCE
NOTICE AGAINST
HIMACHAL GOVT
Shimla: The Himachal Assembly will discuss on
Thursday, a notice on no confidence brought by Oppn
against Jai Ram Thakur-led govt. The Speaker told
the House that the notice was given under Rule 278
of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business.
‘ONE LEADER
ALONE CAN NOT
TACKLE ALL
CHALLENGES’
Nagpur: One leader can not face all the challenges
before this country and a single organization
or party can not bring about change, Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat
said here on late Tuesday evening.
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI MUMBAI
` CLOSES AT 79.48
AGAINST US$
Mumbai: The rupee
appreciated by 15 paise to
close at 79.48 (provisional)
against US dollar on
Wednesday, tracking
foreign fund inflows and
easing crude oil prices.
Rupee settled at 79.48,
with a rise of 15 paise over
its previous close.
BAIL FOR ACTIVIST
VARAVARA RAO
New Delhi: The SC on
Wednesday granted bail
to activist and poet P
Varavara Rao, an accused
in the 2018 Bhima
Koregaon violence case,
on medical grounds. The
SC said that he shall not
leave the jurisdiction of
Greater Mumbai.
MORE ON P8
PRIYANKA COVID+,
RAHUL GANDHI ILL
New Delhi: Congress leader
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on
Wednesday said she has
tested positive for Covid
again and would be isolating
at home while following
all protocols. Former
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi
has cancelled his visit to
Rajasthan as a precautionary
measure after Priyanka
Gandhi and some other party
leaders tested positive for
Covid, sources said.
FLY MUMBAI-RAS
AL-KHAIMAH SOON
New Delhi (PTI): IndiGo on
Wednesday said it will start
flights between Mumbai
and Ras Al-Khaimah in
the UAE from September
22. Ras Al-Khaimah will
be the 100th destination
on IndiGo’s network, the
airline said in a statement.
The daily flight will depart
from Mumbai at 11 pm
(local time) and land there
at 12.35 am (local time),
the airline said. The return
flight will depart from Ras
Al-Khaimah at 2.05 am
(local time) and land in
Mumbai at 6.40 am (local
time), it mentioned.
15-YR-OLD JPR GIRL
COMMITS SUICIDE
Jaipur: A 15-year-old girl
committed suicide by
jumping from a four-storeyed
apartment building in the
posh Civil Lines area here,
police said on Wednesday.
The body was found early
in the morning in an open
area of a community centre
behind the building. She was
a student of Class 10.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
NITISH THROWS 2024
CHALLENGEAT NDA, MODI
First India Bureau
Patna: After getting
sworn in for a record
eight time as Bihar CM,
Nitish Kumar threw a
sort of challenge for his
previousNationalDemo-
cratic Alliance (NDA) in
general and Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi in
particular by telling
them to “worry” about
its prospects in the 2024
General Election.
Talking to reporters
shortly after he was ad-
ministered the oath of
office by Governor
PhaguChauhan,Kumar
alsorubbishedtheBJP’s
claim that the new gov-
ernment will not last its
full term, and said his
former ally “will be
back where they were
after the 2015 assembly
polls”.
Kumar was sworn in
besides RJD’s Tejashwi
Yadav, who is likely to be
designated as his depu-
ty
. Sources in the seven-
party ruling coalition
said that a cabinet ex-
pansion would take
place later.
Leaders of the BJP,
whichis thesecond larg-
est party in the assem-
bly with 77 MLAs, were
conspicuous by their
absence at the swearing
in ceremony that took
place inside the Raj
Bhavan. MORE ON P5
Bihar Chief MInister Nitish Kumar with his deputy Tejaswi Yadav speaks to the media after their
swearing-in ceremony at Rajbhawan in Patna, on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
NITISH CALLS
LALU BEFORE
TAKING OATH
PAWAR ACCUSES BJP OF FINISHING OFF
REGIONAL ALLIES, BACKS NITISH KUMAR
STUNG BY NITISH’S BETRAYAL, BJP
STAGES MASSIVE PROTEST IN BIHAR
New Delhi (ANI): Bihar’s
Chief Minister Nitish Ku-
mar on Wednesday called
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad
Yadav and discussed the
political developments
ahead of his oath-taking
ceremony. Lalu Prasad
Yadav congratulated him
as well. Rashtriya Janata
Dal supremo Lalu Prasad
Yadav on Wednesday
hailed Nitish Kumar for
his decision to split from
the NDA and reunite with
the Mahagathbandhan to
form the new government
in the state.
Pune (PTI): NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday
accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of finishing off
its regional allies gradually, and supported Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to snap ties with the BJP.
Speaking to reporters in Baramati town of Maharashtra’s
Pune district, Pawar claimed the BJP was planning how to
weaken the Shiv Sena and create a division in the party.
Patna (PTI): Stripped of power in Bihar, the BJP on Wednes-
day staged a massive demonstration condemning the betrayal
of Nitish Kumar, whose similar volte face five years ago had
helped it join the government through the proverbial back
door. The ‘Maha Dharna’ (massive demonstration) staged
in front of the party office was attended by all BJP MPs and
MLAs from Bihar who vowed to expose Nitish Kumar through
agitations at district and block levels later this week.
ICAR develops
vaccine for Lumpy
disease in cattle
Domestic airfare
caps to go off
from Aug 31
New Delhi (PTI): In a
major breakthrough,
two institutes of agri
research body ICAR
have developed an in-
digenous vaccine for
Lumpy Skin Disease in
cattle which has spread
across many states in
the last few months.
The Centre plans to
commercialise this vac-
cine, developed by the
two institutes of ICAR,
at the earliest in order
to control the Lumpy
Skin Disease (LSD),
which has led to the
death of cattle in 6
states. MORE ON P6
New Delhi (PTI): Lim-
its imposed on domestic
airfares will be removed
from August 31, after a
span of approximately
27 months, the Union
Aviation Ministry said
on Wednesday
. “The de-
cision to remove air fare
capshasbeentakenafter
careful analysis of daily
demandandpricesof air
turbinefuel(ATF).Stabi-
lisationhassetinandwe
are certain that the sec-
tor is poised for growth
in domestic traffic in the
near future,” Aviation
Minister Jyotiraditya
Scindia said on Twitter.
PM Narendra Modi dedicates
2G ethanol plant in Panipat
First India Bureau
Panipat: On the occa-
sion of World Biofuel
Day
, PM Narendra Modi
on Wednesday dedicat-
ed the 2nd generation
(2G), Ethanol Plant, in
Panipat, Haryana.
The 2G biofuel plant
has been set up to
strengthen the efforts to
boosttheproductionand
usage of biofuels in the
country
. The ethanol
planthasbeendeveloped
by Indian Oil Corpora-
tion Ltd, at an estimated
costof over₹Rs900crore.
PM Modi inaugurates the Indian Oil’s 2G Ethanol Plant at Panipat
Refinery, Haryana, through video conferencing, from New Delhi.
PROPHET REMARK ROW
All FIRs against Nupur
shifted to Delhi Police
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Wednes-
day directed clubbing
and transfer of all FIRs
lodged across the coun-
try against suspended
BJP spokeswoman Nu-
pur Sharma to Delhi Po-
lice in connection with
FIRs/complaints lodged
against her in several
states over her remark
on the Prophet made
duringaTVdebateshow.
The court also extend-
ed interim protection to
Sharma till the probe is
concluded by the Delhi
police. The top court al-
lowed Sharma to move
Delhi HC for quashing
of FIRs lodged over her
remark and said all fu-
ture FIRs would also be
transferred to Delhi Po-
lice for investigation.
Nupur Sharma
BSE SENSEX 58817.29 35.78 | NSE NIFTY 17534.80 9.70
JUSTICE UU LALIT
APPOINTED 49th CJI
New Delhi (PTI): Jus-
tice Uday Umesh Lalit
was on Wednesday ap-
pointedasthe49thChief
Justice of India after
President Droupadi
Murmu signed his war-
rant of appointment. He
will assume charge on
August 27 after incum-
bent NV Ramana demits
office the day before.
“Inexerciseof thepow-
ersconferredbyclause(2)
of Article 124 of the Con-
stitution of India, the
President is pleased to ap-
point Shri Justice Uday
Umesh Lalit, judge of the
Supreme Court, to be the
Chief Justice of India
witheffectfrom27August,
2022,” a notification said.
Justice Lalit will
have a brief tenure of
less than three months.
He will turn 65 on Nov 8
when he demits office.

First India Bureau
Mumbai: Reacting to
Sharad Pawar’s re-
marks about the
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) “finish-
ing off its regional al-
lies gradually”, Depu-
ty Chief Minister De-
vendra Fadnavis said
that everyone knew
there was “something
else” that was hurt-
ing the Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP)
president.
Pawar, in his re-
marks, had also said
that the BJP planned to
weaken the Shiv Sena
and create a division in
the party
.
“There is something
else that hurts Pawar
more. Everyone knows
it,” Fadnavis said, im-
plying that the NCP
chief was hurt that the
coalition of his party,
the Indian National
Congress and the Shiv
Sena—the Maha Vikas
Aghadi (MVA)—could
not stay in power in Ma-
harashtra.
The MVA govern-
ment collapsed in June,
following the revolt by
the current Chief Min-
ister and Shiv Sena
MLA Eknath
Shinde, and 39
other legisla-
tors.
According
to Fadnavis,
“The BJP
takes
care of its allies. In the
previous Bihar Assem-
bly elections, the BJP
had won more seats
than the JD(U), but still
Nitish Kumar was
made chief minister…
If we are not in power
in Bihar (now), we
would be there tomor-
row for sure.”
The latest volley of
comments between the
two leaders came as a
result of the develop-
ments in Bihar. JD(U)
leader Nitish Kumar
took oath as the Bihar
Chief Minister for the
eighth time on Wednes-
day
. The swearing-in
ceremony took place a
day after Kumar cut ties
withtheBJP-ledNation-
al Democratic Alliance
and joined hands with
Rashtriya Janata Dal
(RJD) to form a ‘Maha-
gathbandhan’ (Grand
Alliance) government.
Fadnavis, however,
refused to answer direct
questions on portfolio
assignments in the Ma-
harashtra government.
“There has already
been a lot of specula-
tion…Once the portfo-
lios are allocated, you
will realize it,” he said.
NEWS
MUMBAI | THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Thane: Deputy Chief
Minister Devendra
Fadnavis on Wednes-
day appealed to peo-
ple to hoist the Tricol-
our during the special
campaign ahead of
Independence Day.
He flagged off a ‘Ti-
ranga Rath’ in Thane in
the afternoon to spread
awareness about the
‘Har Ghar Tiranga’
campaign to be held be-
tween August 13 and 15.
BJP workers, includ-
ing women, took out a
two-wheeler rally after
Fadnavis flagged off the
mechanized chariot.
Fadnavis was hand-
ed over a national flag
which was specially
brought from Kashmir
by Bharatiya Janata
Yuva Morcha national
secretary Gaurav Gau-
tam.
He appealed to people
to hoist the Tricolour
atop their houses dur-
ing the campaign.
“People should re-
member the contribu-
tion made by freedom
fighters and soldiers for
this country and free-
dom,” he said.
BONDS OF GRATITUDE
A nurse from
a BMC-run
hospital ties
a rakhi on
the wrist of
Shiv Sena
chief Uddhav
Thackeray at
‘Matoshree’,
on the eve of
Rakshabandhan.
The group of
nurses thanked
Thackeray for
steering the
state through
the COVID-19
pandemic.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The expand-
ed cabinet of the
Eknath Shinde gov-
ernment in its first
meeting on Wednes-
day approved two key
decisions for urban
and rural Maharash-
tra. It formally ap-
proved the Rs10,000
crore escalation in
the cost of the Cuffe
Parade-SEEPZ Metro
3 project and sought
to “double” the finan-
cial assistance pro-
vided for by the Na-
tional Disaster Relief
Force (NDRF) norms.
Giving a further fillip
to Metro-3, the only un-
derground metro line
that will connect impor-
tant landmarks uncon-
nected by the suburban
railway network from
Cuffe Parade in the far
south to the special eco-
nomic zone of SEEPZ in
western Mumbai, the
state cabinet gave for-
mal approval to the cost
escalation in the project
from Rs23,136 crore to
Rs33,205 crore.
The Centre has been
requested to share the
burden of the cost esca-
lation, the cabinet note
said. With the revision,
the state’s share in-
creases from Rs2,402
crore to Rs3,699 crore.
The cabinet also direct-
ed the Mumbai Metro-
politan Region Develop-
ment Authority to re-
lease Rs1,297 crore—the
escalated cost in the
state’s share—to the
Mumbai Metro Rail
Corp. Ltd, which is ex-
ecuting the project. The
revised plan has also
increased the loan bur-
den from the Japan In-
ternational Co-opera-
tion Agency (JICA)
from Rs13,235 crore to
Rs19,924 crore, and the
cabinet also approved
the additional loan
from JICA.
The 33.5km Metro-3
line will be fully under-
ground, with 26 under-
ground stations and one
above-ground station,
and is expected to ferry
an estimated 17 lakh
commuters daily once
it is completed in 2031.
In another key deci-
sion, the state cabinet
clearedadecisiontopro-
vide “double” the finan-
cial aid to rain-hit farm-
ers. “As per the current
NDRF norms, a farmer
receives Rs6,800 per hec-
tare as compensation.
We have decided to dou-
ble the amount,” CM
Shinde told reporters.
Also, earlier NDRF
norms were applicable
for damage to crops on
a maximum of two hec-
tares. We have decided
to change it to three
hectares, he said.
StateokaysescalatedcostforMetro,‘doubles’aidforrain-hitfarmers
CABINET DECISIONS
‘EYEWASH’
CM Shinde chairs the Cabinet meeting, in Mumbai on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Cabinet also green-lit proposal
of government medical college
in Ratnagiri, with 430-bed hosp
First India Bureau
Pune: Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP)
chief Sharad Pawar
on Wednesday ac-
cused the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) of
finishing off its re-
gional allies gradual-
ly. He also supported
Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar’s deci-
sion to snap ties with
the BJP
.
Speaking to reporters
in Baramati, Pawar
claimed the BJP was
planning about how to
weaken the Shiv Sena
and create a division in
the party
.
Pawar’s party was a
constituent of the pre-
vious Shiv Sena-led Ma-
harashtra government,
which collapsed in June
this year following a re-
volt by incumbent Ma-
harashtra Chief Minis-
ter Eknath Shinde and
39 other legislators.
Nitish Kumar had on
Tuesday pulled the plug
on his party JD(U)’s al-
liance with the BJP and
resigned. He followed it
up by staking a claim to
form a new government
in Bihar with the sup-
port of the opposition
Grand Alliance.
In Maharashtra, the
Shiv Sena and BJP were
together for several
years, Pawar pointed
out.
“Today, the BJP is
planning how the Shiv
Sena can be weakened
by creating a division in
the party, and (present
Maharashtra CM)
Eknath Shinde and oth-
ers helped, he added.
In doing this, the Shiv
Sena was attacked by
the party which was
once its ally, he said.
A similar picture was
being seen in Bihar. Ni-
tish Kumar, of the
JD(U), and the BJP con-
tested the last Assembly
elections together, he
said.
“One more speciality
of the BJP is that it
joins hands with a re-
gional party at the time
of elections, but en-
sures the ally wins few-
er seats. It happened in
Maharashtra also,”
claimed Pawar.
When a similar pic-
ture was being wit-
nessed in Bihar, the CM
of the state got cautious
well in advance and
took the decision to
snap ties with the BJP,
he said.
“No matter how
much BJP leaders criti-
cize Nitish Kumar, he
has taken a wise step.
He took the decision an-
ticipating the crisis the
BJP was planning to
bring on. I think he
made a wise decision
for his state and party,”
said Pawar.
BJPbenton‘finishingoff’
regionalallies:Pawar
DY CM appeals people to hoist Tricolour
Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis flags off a Tiranga Rath rally organized
as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations ahead of the
75th Independence Day, in Thane on Wed. —PHOTO BY PTI
Flgas off ‘Tiranga
Rath’ in Thane to
spread word about
‘Har Ghar Tiranga’
Deputy CM’s
remarks were made
in response to
NCP chief’s
accusations
against BJP
Lokmat to hold
national conclave
on August 20
Mumbai: To mark
the birth centenary
of freedom fighter
Jawaharlal Dar-
da—the founder
editor of the Mar-
athi daily Lok-
mat—as well as to
celebrate the news-
paper’s golden ju-
bilee, its parent
group will hold a
national conclave
on media on Au-
gust 20 in Nagpur.
A press statement
by the Lokmat Media
Group announced
that the conclave’s
topic would be ‘Is In-
dian Media Com-
pletely Polarized’?
Union Minister for
Information and
Broadcasting, Anur-
ag Thakur, will be
the chief guest and
keynote speaker at
the event, while Dep-
uty Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis
will be a special
guest.
The ‘Lokmat Na-
tional Media Con-
clave’ will see par-
ticipation by jour-
nalists and column-
ists from across the
country.
“Around 500 jour-
nalists and students
of journalism are ex-
pected to attend the
conclave, which is go-
ing to be one-of-its-
kind in central In-
dia,” said a release
on the festival.
The occasion will mark the birth
centenary of the Marathi daily
Lokmat’s founder Jawaharlal Darda
DIGITAL MEDIA
CREDIBILITY
The digital media is
facing a credibility
problem, Deputy
CM Devendra Fad-
navis said in Thane
on Wednesday.
He was speaking
after inaugurating
the new office of
Marathi daily Lok-
mat. News media
are undergoing a
transformation with
changing technolo-
gy, he said, adding
that media outlets
must adopt a “360
degrees approach”
if they want to
survive.
Backs Bihar
CM Nitish
Kumar for
snapping ties
with the
saffron party
NADDA MADE IT CLEAR THAT ONLY
BJP WILL SURVIVE: PAWAR
Notably, BJP National President JP Nadda recently
said in the times to come only an ideology-driven
party like the BJP will survive, while others ruled
by families will perish.Pawar on Wednesday
claimed that “the BJP national president in his
address said regional parties do not have a future
and they will not exist. He said it is only their party
which will exist in the country.” He added, “From
this statement, one thing is clear, which was also
the complaint of Nitish Kumar, that the BJP finish-
es off its allies gradually.”
‘Something else’ hurting Sharad Pawar more: Fadnavis
Devendra Fadnavis
Sharad Pawar

MAHARASHTRA
03
First India Bureau
Nagpur: At least four
people were injured
after a dilapidated
Shiva temple in
Nagpur’s Bhaldarpu-
ra collapsed on
Wednesday. The inci-
dent took place at
around 05.20 am.
The temple collapsed
when the devotees were
offering prayers, said
firefighters from Nag-
pur Municipal Corpora-
tion’s fire and emergen-
cy services department.
On being informed,
firemen from Ganjipeth
fire station reached the
spot, and with the help
of locals rescued the
trapped devotees. Of
them, two sustained se-
rious injuries. All the
injured were rushed to
Indira Gandhi Govern-
ment Medical College
and Hospital.
Meanwhile, due to in-
cessant rains all over
Nagpur, the water level
has increased. All four
gates of Gorewada Lake
wereopenedonWednes-
daymorningat04.35am.
The water crossed the
315.96 m overflow mark
following which the
Godbole gates were
opened automatically
.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Various
parts of Maharashtra
witnessed heavy rains
on Wednesday,
prompting two uni-
versities to suspend
or cancel exams.
Mumbai witnessed
moderate rains along
with strong winds since
Tuesday and more
showers are predicted
over the next 24 hours,
officials said.
Lanja of Ratnagiri
district in Konkan re-
corded the highest rain-
fall of 330mm in the last
24 hours. Due to the
rainfall of more than
200mm at several places
on the Ghat, the rivers
have become flooded.
The India Meteoro-
logical Department
(IMD) has forecast
heavy to very heavy
rains at isolated places
in Madhya Pradesh, Gu-
jarat, central Maha-
rashtra and Chhattis-
garh on Thursday
.
Asked about rains
along coastal Maha-
rashtra and the West-
ern Ghat regions, IMD
Director General Mru-
tunjay Mohapatra said
the low pressure area
attracted strong winds
from the Arabian sea
which brought heavy
rainfall over the region.
The intensity will
come down from
Wednesday
, he said.
Duetotheheavyrains
and subsequent flood
situation in Kolhapur,
Sangli and Satara dis-
tricts of western Maha-
rashtra, the examina-
tions of the Kolhapur
University scheduled on
Wednesday and Thurs-
day have been suspend-
ed. The new time table
will be announced later,
theKolhapurdistrictad-
ministration said in a
statement.
The water level of the
PanchgangariverinKol-
hapur has crossed the
warning mark. At 10 am
on Wednesday
, the water
level of the Panchganga
river at Rajaram weir
reached40.2ft,asagainst
the warning level of 39 ft
and the danger mark of
43 ft, officials from the
districtdisastermanage-
ment cell said.
Some roads in Kol-
hapur district were
closed after water-log-
ging on some stretches.
The Nagpur University
cancelled all its exami-
nations scheduled on
Wednesday in view of
heavy rains in the
district and adjoining
places in the Vidarbha
region.
The Rashtrasant Tu-
kadoji Maharajah Nag-
pur University's Direc-
tor, Board of Examina-
tion and Evaluation, Dr
Prafulla Sabale in a no-
tification said the next
date will be announced
soon and asked authori-
ties to inform students
about the decision.
Mumbai: Due to the
loss of evidence, in-
cluding a termite-
damaged police uni-
form, a sessions court
recently acquitted a
35-year-old man who
was booked 15 years
ago on charges of en-
dangering and ob-
structing a policeman.
The man was a
21-year-old medical stu-
dent at the time of the
incident in 2007, when
he allegedly jumped a
traffic signal. He was
stopped by a traffic po-
liceman but the accused
allegedly continued to
ride his bike, due to
which the policeman’s
hand got entangled in
the iron rod on the rear
seat, causing injuries to
him.
Among the evidence
collected by the police
was the uniform worn
by the injured police-
man. In April this year,
the court was informed
that the clothes were
damaged by termites
and hence were dis-
posed of by the police
station.
“From evidence of in-
vestigating officer, it is
certain that from the
year of the incident in
2007 till the filing of the
letter (informing court
about the damage to the
clothes) in 2022, for 15
years, the investigating
officer did not forward
the clothes either before
the Metropolitan Magis-
trate or before this
court,” the court said.
The court pointed out
that there were other
shortcomings in the
evidence.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: With Mum-
bai Indians going glob-
al, two new franchises
have joined the brand.
On Wednesday
, it un-
veiled the name and
brand identity of the
new franchises joining
the Mumbai Indians.
Their team in the
United Arab Emirates
(UAE) International
League T20 will be
known as ‘MI Emirates’
and the team in Cricket
South Africa’s T20
League has been named
‘MI Cape Town’.
OwnedbyRelianceIn-
dustries Limited, the
brand features a cricket
team in the Indian Pre-
mierLeague(IPL)thatis
hosted each year. Inter-
estingly
, both ‘MI Emir-
ates’and‘MICapeTown’
will don the iconic blue
and gold colours of the
Mumbai Indians team.
The names of the new
franchises were chosen
to represent specific re-
gions from where the
teams will be based. The
teams, ‘MI Emirates’ or
phonetically ‘My Emir-
ates’and‘MyCapeTown’
respectively
, are dedicat-
edtofansacrossboththe
Emirates and Cape
Town. The global expan-
sion of the brand is just
a step toward franchises
taking over the cricket-
ing calendar.
Nita M Ambani, Di-
rectorof RelianceIndus-
tries, said, “It gives me
great pleasure to wel-
come ‘MI Emirates’ and
‘MICapeTown’,thenew-
est additions to our
#Onefamily
. For us, MI
goes beyond cricket. It
embodies the ability to
dream, be fearless and
foster a positive attitude
in life. I’m sure both ‘MI
Emirates’ and ‘MI Cape
Town’ will embrace the
sameethosandtakeMI’s
global cricket legacy to
even greater heights!”
Mumbai Indians unveils name,
brand identity of 2 new franchises
GOING INTERNATIONAL
Their team in
UAE’s ILT20
christened ‘MI
Emirates’ and the
one set to play in
Cricket South
Africa’s T20 League
has been named
‘MI Cape Town’
COOL TRICKS!
School children enjoy a dog show organized by Mumbai police at St Columba High School in Mumbai on Wednesday.
First India Bureau
Thane: A worker
was found killed in
a powerloom facto-
ry in Bhiwandi
town of Thane dis-
trict, police said on
Wednesday.
Iqbal Ahmed Mo-
hammad Shakib An-
sari, aged around 60,
was on Tuesday after-
noon sleeping on the
mezzanine floor of
the factory located in
Khan compound
when some unidenti-
fied persons allegedly
smashedhisheadand
facewithahugestone
andkilledhim,Shanti
Nagar police inspec-
tor Nilesh Badakh
said. One of the work-
ers spotted the body
lying in a pool of
blood in the factory
premises around 03
pmandalertedthepo-
lice, he said.
The police rushed
to the spot and sent
the body to a govern-
ment hospital for
post-mortem, the of-
ficial said.
Elderly worker found
dead in Thane factory
Booked for assaulting cop,
man acquitted after 15 years
Mahasees1,847nCoVcases,
seven fatalities in 24 hours
Mumbai (PTI): Maha-
rashtra on Wednes-
day reported 1,847
COVID-19 cases, in-
cluding 852 in Mum-
bai, and seven fatali-
ties, the health de-
partment said in a
bulletin.
With the fresh addi-
tions, the state’s COV-
ID-19 tally rose to
80,64,336 and the toll to
1,48,157.
On Tuesday, the state
recorded 1,782 and sev-
en fatalities.
Maharashtra’s tally
of active cases stands at
11,889 as of Wednesday
.
Mumbai recorded 852
cases and one fatality.
On Tuesday, the city re-
corded 479 COVID-19
cases.
The Thane Municipal
Corporation (TMC) saw
three fatalities due to
COVID-19 while one
death each occurred in
areas under the Pimpri
Chinchwad municipal
corporation, Nagpur
municipal corporation,
and the Nagpur district.
Maharashtra’s case
fatality rate stands at
1.83%. Nashik district
saw 26 fresh cases and
12 recoveries on
Wednesday
.
A total of 1,840 pa-
tients recovered in the
last 24 hours, taking the
tally of recoveries in
Maharashtra to
79,04,320.
The recovery rate in
the state is 98.02%.
With 26,762 tests con-
ducted in the last 24
hours, the total count of
samples tested so far in
the state went up to
8,35,16,877.
At the time of the
incident in 2007, the
man was a 21-year-
old medical student
With the fresh cases,
the state’s COVID-19
tally rose to 80,64,336
and the toll to 1,48,157
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Mum-
bai and its sub-
urbs witnessed
moderate rains
in the past 24
hours and the In-
dia Meteorologi-
cal Department
(IMD) has pre-
dicted moderate
showers with
strong wind over
thenext24hours.
Local trains and
bus services of the
Brihanmumbai
Electric Supply
and Transport
(BEST) were oper-
ating normally
.
There was no di-
version of any bus
service, a civic of-
ficial said on
Wednesday
.
After heavy
overnight down-
pour on Tuesday
,
the rain intensity
reduced in Mum-
bai. The city re-
corded 26.87mm
rainfall in the 24-
hour period till 08
am on Wednesday
.
VarsityexamsinNagpur,Kolhapurhitamidrains
Low-pressure areas are attracting strong winds from the Arabian sea, causing heavy rainfall
ORANGE, YELLOW
ALERTS ISSUED
Meanwhile, orange
alert of heavy rain
has been issued in
Palghar, Raigad,
Ratnagiri, Pune,
Satara, Wardha,
Nagpur, Bhandara,
Chandrapur areas of
the state. Along with
this, yellow alert has
been given in the
areas of Mumbai,
Thane, Sindhudurg,
Nashik, Nandurbar,
Kolhapur, Akola,
Amravati, Gondia. The
weather department
has informed that
there is a possibility
of rain with lightning
in Buldana, Washim,
Yavatmal districts.
Met dept
forecasts
more rains,
strong winds
Temple collapses in Nagpur; 4 injured
Firemen rescued all devotees with help from locals.
Mumbai recorded 26.87mm rainfall in the 24-hour period till 08 am on Wednesday, while the eastern and western suburbs recorded
31.38mm and 33.06mm, respectively. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
—PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 97
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.
Editor-In-Chief:DrJagdeeshChandra
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Bhupender Yadav
@byadavbjp
A forest without lions is destroyed
and lions without forests will perish.
#WorldLionDay
Kiren Rijiju
@KirenRijiju
In exercise of the power conferred by
the Constitution of India, the President,
is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Uday
Umesh Lalit, Judge of the Supreme
Court as the Chief Justice of India with
effect from 27th August, 2022.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask for in
prayer, believe that you
have received it, and it
will be yours.
—Bible
IN-DEPTH
IT IS UNFAIR TO
PRE-JUDGE THE
CJI-DESIGNATE
JUSTICE UU LALIT
ustice UU Lalit has
been appointed the
49th Chief Justice of
India for a brief ten-
ure of less than three
months. He will demit office on
November 8 when he turns 65.
Even before he has taken over as
the CJI, Justice Lalit is being
prejudged by his detractors who
fear that he will show a pro-gov-
ernment bias in his functioning.
The reasons cited are that he
was Amit Shah’s lawyer in the
Tulsi Prajapati and Sohrabud-
din Sheikh murder case, he was
appointed judge three months
after Narendra Modi govern-
ment came to power in 2014.
Critics allege that his appoint-
ment came at the cost of former
Solicitor-General Gopal Subra-
manium whose name was also
recommended for appointment
by the collegium along with UU
Lalit’s.
It would be unfair to pre-judge
the CJI-designate for what he
did as a noted criminal lawyer
and when he has yet to give any
judgment. It was not the govern-
ment which asked the SC colle-
gium to include his name.
TOP TWEETS
J
n a decision
which will bene-
fit both domestic
airlines and fli-
ers, the Directo-
rate-General of Civil Avia-
tion (DGCA) has decided to
remove the upper and lower
price bands notified in May,
2020, during the pandemic,
from August 31. The price
bands became necessary to
prevent domestic airlines
from charging exorbitant
fares from passengers. The
lower band was to help the
airlines struggling due to
travel restrictions. The up-
per price band was to save
passengers from being
fleeced when the demand
was high. Now with price
bands gone, the airlines may
offer competitive prices to
attract passengers to meet
their overhead costs. Air-
lines expect the govern-
ment’s move to boost de-
mand in a win-win situation
for all.
Airlines hope that the avi-
ation turbine fuel (ATF) will
be brought under the Goods
and Services Tax (GST) to
provide them with further
financial relief. The ATF ac-
counts for about 40 percent
of operational costs. The jet
fuel price touched new highs
this year with a hike of 16.3
percent to Rs 123.03 per litre
or Rs 1.41 per kl. That hefty
surge in the price of jet avia-
tion fuel is in keeping with
the global energy prices.
With India being dependent
on fuel import, it is for the
government to cut taxes to
give relief to the aviation in-
dustry.
Aviation fuel is charged
an 11 percent ad valorem
rate of excise duty which
goes up each time there is a
rise in global oil prices. Be-
sides, it also is taxed by
states in the form of sales
tax. The government may
want to consider domestic
carriers’ demand.
AIR PRICE BANDS GO
IN RELIEF FOR FLIERS
In a decision which will
benefit both domestic
airlines and fliers, DGCA
has decided to
remove the upper and
lower price bands
notified in May, 2020,
during the pandemic,
from August 31
I
Why India frowns on Chinese
ship docking at Lankan port?
fter India voiced its deep con-
cerns over the docking of
Chinese research and survey
vessel Yuan Wang 5 at Sri
Lanka’s Hambantota port,
the beleaguered island na-
tion, which first tried to un-
derplay the ship’s visit as
“nothing unusual”, finally
backtracked and requested
China to defer its arrival.
But, the Chinese ship’s
visit, scheduled for Thursday
(August 11) at the Hamban-
tota port, which is financed
with Chinese loans, built by a
Chinese firm and currently
leased to China Merchant
Port Holdings after Sri Lanka
was unable to repay the loans,
will not happen for now.
The Sri Lankan foreign
ministryspokespersonshared
with the media on Monday
(August 8) that they have sub-
mitted a request to China to
defer the ship’s arrival.
Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman Wang Wenbin
slammed Sri Lanka’s decision
and blamed the “gross inter-
ference”of othercountries.He
said Chinese research ships
have regularly stopped in Sri
Lanka for resupply and that
cooperation between the two
countries is normal. Wang
added that it was “unreasona-
ble”and“senseless”forathird
party to put pressure on Sri
Lanka on the grounds of so-
called security concerns.
WHAT ARE INDIA’S
CONCERNS?
India, whose relations soured
with China after a clash in
the Galwan valley in June
2020, is worried that the Chi-
nese-built and leased port of
Hambantota will be used by
Beijing as a military base in
India’s backyard.
Moreover, the $1.5 billion
port is near the main ship-
ping route from Asia to Eu-
rope. Situated in the home-
town of the ousted but power-
ful Rajapaksa family, most of
the Hambantota port was
constructed using loans from
China. It is currently leased
to China Merchant Port Hold-
ings after Sri Lanka could
not repay the debts. All of
this has led India to fear the
potential use of the port for
military purposes.
Indiaremainssuspiciousof
China’s growing influence in
Sri Lanka, which owes large
amounts of money to Beijing
for the construction of its in-
frastructure projects. Also,
India wants to protect its stra-
tegic interests in the Indian
Oceanregion,waryof China’s
constant efforts to increase its
influence in the area.
IS SPACE-TRACKING
SHIP WORRISOME?
Foreign security analysts
have labelled Yuan Wang 5
one of China’s latest space-
tracking ships, which can be
used to monitor satellite,
rocket and intercontinental
ballistic missile launches.
Some reports alleged that it
is a dual-use spy vessel, em-
ployed for space and satellite
tracking and with specific us-
age in intercontinental bal-
listic missile launches.
It may not be a military
ship but it can be sent to car-
ry out missile tests, said
news reports. With an aerial
reach of more than 750 km,
the ship can allegedly spy on
Kalpakkam, Koodankulam,
and atomic research centres
within Indian borders. It can
also track ports of Kerala,
Tamil Nadu, and Andhra
Pradesh and gather vital in-
formation from installations
in south India.
INDIA’S OFFICIAL STAND
ON VESSEL’S VISIT
External affairs ministry
spokesperson Arindam
Bagchi told the media that
they were aware of reports
of a proposed visit by this
vessel to Hambantota in Au-
gust. And that the govern-
ment will carefully “monitor
any development” that has a
bearing on India’s security
and economic interests and
take all necessary measures
to safeguard them. To which
China gave a rebuttal that it
hoped “relevant parties”
would refrain from interfer-
ing with its “legitimate mari-
time activities”.
HOW’S SRI LANKA DOING
THE BALANCING ACT?
Sri Lanka has had to main-
tain a fine balancing act be-
tween China and India. As
the country battles with an
economic crisis with zero for-
eign reserves, it needs the
cooperation from Beijing,
which is its key creditor. It
has now turned to the Inter-
national Monetary Fund to
bail it out of this crisis and
restructure its huge debt.
Meanwhile, India too has
provided nearly $4 billion in
aid to Sri Lanka this year, in-
cluding shipments of fuel
and food.
WHAT IS BEIJING
SAYING NOW?
Predictably
, China was upset.
It described India’s opposi-
tion to the docking of a Chi-
nese ship at a Sri Lankan
port as senseless. It was
“morally irresponsible” and
against the norms of inter-
national relations for coun-
tries to “exploit vulnerabili-
ties” of Sri Lanka at a time
when it is dealing with eco-
nomic and political crises,
said Beijing.
China urged relevant par-
ties to see its scientific explo-
rations in a reasonable and
sensible way and stop dis-
turbing normal exchanges
between Beijing and Colom-
bo. Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman Wang Wenbin
said, “Sri Lanka is a sover-
eign state. It can develop rela-
tions with other countries in
the light of its own develop-
ment interests. The coopera-
tion between China and Sri
Lanka is independently cho-
sen by the two countries and
meets common interests.”
Sri Lanka is a transport
hub in the Indian Ocean,
Wang said, adding that many
scientific exploration ships
including those from China
have stopped at Sri Lankan
ports for resupplies. “China
has always exercised the free-
dom of navigation in the
high seas and fully respects
and fully respects the juris-
diction of coastal states of
the scientific exploration ac-
tivities within their jurisdic-
tion waters,” Wang added.
SOURCE: THE FEDERAL
A
In 2014, Sri Lanka allowed
Chinese nuclear-powered
submarine Changzheng 2
in Colombo and it had led
to diplomatic tensions
soaring with New Delhi.
Former President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who
was then secretary to the
ministry of defence, had to
even fly down to India to
meet with National
Security Adviser Ajit Doval
to discuss the matter.
Sri Lanka, which is
currently tackling a very
serious economic crisis,
had initially brushed aside
India’s anxiety over
“security concerns”,
saying the Yuan Wang
5 was only stopping
at the port for
“bunkering”
India, whose cross-border relations with China have soured, is worried that the Chinese-built
and leased port of Hambantota will be used by Beijing as a military base in its own backyard

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05
INDIA
Mahesh Sharma
Patna: Chirag Paswan’s
exile seems to be over.
DuetoNitishKumar,the
BJP had kept him on the
sidelines and had also
forced him to vacate the
bungalow allotted to his
father Ram Vilas Pas-
wan in Delhi. His party
with six MPs had also
broken up, under which
his uncle parted ways
over five MPs and be-
came a minister in the
central government, for
which Nitish Kumar
had lobbied. If Chirag
Paswan’s exile ends and
is rehabilitated in NDA
then it will be difficult
for Pashupati Paras. He
will have to decide
whether he will contin-
ue to be minister at the
Center or do their posi-
tioning in terms of Bi-
har politics. If he thinks
of continuing as a min-
ister at the Centre, then
a compromise will have
to be made with the
nephew.
However,thatissuewill
is for later. The immedi-
ate matter is that Chirag
Paswan became active
as soon as the dispute
started between JDU
and BJP in Bihar and
there was speculation
about Nitish Kumar do-
ing a U-turn and going
with the BJP. Chirag
started making anti-Nit-
ish statements. Till now
he was silent because
the damage he had to
cause to Nitish had al-
ready been done in the
2020 assembly elections.
But now as the ‘synergy’
between BJP and JDU is
over, an opportunity is
being created for them.
Is Nitish’s exit from NDA ‘achhe din’ for Chirag?
CHANGE OF FORTUNES
Bihar CM eyes 2024 general elections, though downplays speculations of himself being the future PM face
NITISHCALLSFORUNITEDOPPN
Patna (ANI): Moments
after Nitish Kumar was
sworn in as Bihar Chief
Minister on Wednesday
after parting ways with
the BJP and joining the
Grand Alliance to form
government in the state,
he called for a united
Opposition ahead of the
General elections of
2024. Kumar parted
ways with BJP alleging
that the party was try-
ing to break the JD(U),
and joined hands with
the political opponents
RJD in the Mahagath-
bandhan on Tuesday
.
Speculations have
been rife regarding his
future with his ‘national
ambitions’doingrounds
in the political sphere
since his move against
the NDA, which whom
he had reunited in 2017.
However, Nitish re-
jected any such specula-
tions.
“Those who came to
power in 2014, will they
be victorious in 2024? I
would like all (opposi-
tion) to be united for
2024. I am not a contend-
er for any such post (on
PM post),” he said. Ku-
mar said, “The party
made the decision to-
gether (to leave BJP). I
did not want to be the
CM after the previous
election. But a lot of
pressure was put on me
tohandlethepost.When
there were talks with
them (points towards
Tejashwi), the decision
was made. whether I
will stay or not (till
2024)…they can say ...
but I won’t live in the
year 2014,” the CM said.
On a mission to
produce 5,000
khadi flags
Chennai: Fivepanchay-
atsinTamilNaduwould
fly khadi national flags
produced by Avvai Ash-
ram of Gandhigram
Trust in Sivasailam. In-
spired by the Centre’s
‘HarGharTiranga’cam-
paign, the Gandhigram
Trust, in TN’s southern
districtof Tirunelveli,is
on a mission to churn
out 5,000 khadi flags.
RAJU SRIVASTAVA
SUFFERS HEART
ATTACK,DOING FINE
SWATANTRA DEV
RESIGNS AS UP
COUNCIL LEADER
New Delhi: Popular co-
median-actor Raju Sri-
vastava was rushed to
AIIMS following a heart
attack, said sources. The
58-yr-old was brought
to the AIIMS emergency
at 10:45 am. “Srivastava
had to be resuscitated
twice and was rushed
to catheterisation lab
for emergency angiog-
raphy,” the source said.
Colleague Sunil Pal said
Raju is doing much
better now.
Lucknow: Former UP
BJP president Swatantra
Dev Singh has resigned
as leader of Legislative
Council. According to
sources, Singh has re-
signed citing busyness.
DyCM Keshav Prasad
Maurya, was made
Leader of the House in
the state’s Legislative
Council. Singh had
sent his resignation last
month as state unit chief
after his tenure expired
on July 16.
3-YEAR-OLD GIRL
BEATEN TO DEATH
BY FATHER
BIG EXPLOSIVES
RECOVERY IN
PULWAMA
Hyderabad: A three-
year-old girl, hospi-
talised after being
thrashed allegedly by
her father, died on
Tuesday, police said.
The girl was hit with
a ladle for not coming
out of the washroom.
Also, the man allegedly
banged her against the
floor in their house on
Saturday. The injured
girl was admitted to a
hospital where she died,
said the police.
Pulwama: The JK Po-
lice recovered approx-
imately 30 kg impro-
vised explosive device
near Tahab Crossing
on Circular road here.
“An IED weighing
approx 25-30 kg was
recovered at Circular
road in Pulwama by
the Police and Security
Forces. A major tragedy
was averted by specific
input generated by
the police,” said Vijay
Kumar, ADGP.
New Delhi: The Election Commission will host
a virtual meet of the ‘Asian Regional Forum’ on
Thursday on the theme
of “Making our Elections
Inclusive, Accessible and
Participative”. The meet is
a precursor to the “Global
Summit for Democra-
cy” to be hosted by the
National Electoral Institute
of Mexico in the coming month, the poll panel said
on Wednesday.
EC VIRTUAL MEET OF ASIAN REGIONAL
FORUM FOR MAKING POLLS INCLUSIVE
POSSIBLE RISE IN STATURE
CRUCIAL READ
Chirag will be only ally
with the BJP because
after Nitish’s departure,
Jitan Ram Manjhi will
also join the Grand
Alliance and Mukesh
Sahni has already left
NDA. Therefore, Chirag
will get more impor-
tance in NDA than be-
fore. Chirag must also
be regretting that if
Nitish had parted ways
earlier, then the bunga-
low in Delhi would also
have stayed with him
which has now gone to
RN Kovind.
LJP chief Chirag Paswan (R) Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
‘SIDING WITH CORRUPTION, CONGRESSISM’
Patna: Former Union
Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad questioned the
change of stance by
Nitish while accus-
ing him of siding with
“corruption and Con-
gressism”. Prasad also
asked if Kumar’s poli-
tics which is around
“non-Congressism”,
has finished.
Patna: Poll strategist
Prashant Kishor said
with Nitish exiting the
NDA and forming a
new government with
RJD and other parties
he hopes that the Bihar
CM stands firm on
the alliance and fulfills
the aspirations of the
people. “I see what’s
happening now in the
context of the era of
political instability in
Bihar. Since 2013-14,
this is the 6th at-
tempt to form govt in
Bihar. Formations are
changed when one’s
political or administra-
tive expectations are
not fulfilled,” Kishor
said. He said the era
of “political instability”
has been ongoing for
past 10 years in Bihar
and Nitish was the only
constant in all this.
‘BIHAR DEVP
SPECIFIC
TO STATE’
Patna: MLAs of the Mahagathbandhan have
brought a no-confidence motion against
Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Singh. A
letter signed by 50 MLAs of the newly-formed
Mahagathbandhan was submitted before the
secretary of Bihar Assembly. With this, Sinha
will have to prove majority in Assembly to
retain his position as Speaker.
Patna: Saffron party leader Sushil Kumar Modi
claimed the new government will fall before
completing its term in 2025. Modi, who has
known Kumar and Lalu Prasad for five decades,
also said the JD(U) supremo insulted PM Modi
and the people of Bihar who had voted for NDA.
The former deputy CM alleged Kumar will “ditch
the RJD and try to split it, taking advantage of
RJD boss Lalu Prasad’s illness”.
NO-CONFIDENCE AGAINST SPEAKER
NEW GOVT TO FALL: SUSHIL MODI
A ‘GOOD START’
FOR INDIAN POL,
SAYS AKHILESH
‘NITISH NOW IN
FRONT ROW OF
OPPN CAMP’
Lucknow: Akhilesh
Yadav sees the BJP-
JD(U) break-up as a
‘good start’ for Indian
politics. He said, “It
signals `BJP satta
chhodo`. HD Deve
Gowda said“’.. I’m in
advanced years, but
if the younger gen
decides it can offer a
good alternative.”
Patna: Nitish Kumar
stands in the “front
row” of the opposi-
tion camp along with
Mamata Banerjee
and others to end
the “Modi raj” in the
country in the 2024
elections, former
BJP leader and now
TMC MP Shatrughan
Sinha said.
No CM change,
says Karnataka
minister, a dare
for Congress
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): Accusing Con-
gress of unnecessarily
raking up the issue of
Karnataka Chief Minis-
ter replacement, to cov-
er up the rift within,
senior BJP leader and
Revenue Minister R
Ashoka on Wednesday
challenged it to name its
CM candidate for 2023
assembly polls.
Ruling out Chief Min-
ister Basavaraj Bom-
mai’s replacement, he
said BJP’s top leader-
ship including PM Modi
and HM Amit Shah have
already said election
will be under Bommai’s
leadershipandtheparty
will abide by it. The
minister was reacting to
Congress’ tweets specu-
lating about CM Bom-
mai being replaced and
even calling him a “Pup-
pet Chief Minister”.
“To cover up their in-
fighting that has come
on to the streets, Con-
gress is spreading false
information that CM
Bommai will be re-
placed. Congress has no
base in the country,
what rights do they have
to speak about BJP’s
leadership and CM
change,” Ashoka said.
Parl panel for restoring sr citizen
rebate in sleeper, 3-tier rail travel
New Delhi (PTI): A
Parliamentary Com-
mittee has recommend-
ed that senior citizen
concessions be re-
viewed and restored
“urgently” at least for
sleeper class and AC
3-tier train travel. In its
report, the Standing
Committee on Rail-
ways said senior citi-
zens were earlier grant-
ed concession of 40-50
per cent of their rail-
way fares, but the prac-
tice was stopped during
the COVID-19 crisis.
It also urged the min-
istry to give wide pub-
licity to the “give up”
scheme, which encour-
ages senior citizens to
give up their conces-
sions voluntarily.
The rail ministry has
stated that concession
to all categories (except
four categories of Divy-
angjan, and 11 catego-
ries of patients stu-
dents) were withdrawn.
GRIEVANCE
REDRESSAL
INSTRUCTIONS
New Delhi: A Parlia-
mentary Committee has
recommended all min-
istries and departments
to strictly comply with
instructions on grievance
redressal. The recom-
mendation was made
in its 119th report on
“Strengthening of Griev-
ance Redressal Mecha-
nism of Government of
India”. It was submitted
in both houses.
IN THE COURTYARD
PLEA ON CONVICTS’ POLL RIGHTS IN SC CONTEMPT PLEA IN SC AGAINST PRAFUL
HC BAIL TO MAJITHIA IN NDPS CASE HC STAYS PROBE AGAINST ARTIST
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court said it will consider
a plea seeking a lifetime
ban on people convicted of
offences from contesting
poll and becoming MPs and
MLAs. Appearing before
a Bench led by CJI NV
Ramana, senior advocate
Vikas Singh, appearing for
petitioner Ashwini Upad-
hyay, said “even a consta-
ble can lose his job after
conviction”.
New Delhi: The Committee
of Administrators (CoA)
appointed by the Supreme
Court to run and write the
new constitution of the All
India Football Federation
(AIFF) has sought initia-
tion of contempt proceed-
ings against former AIFF
President Praful Patel and
the office-bearers of seven
other state associations.
The plea filed by current
CoA ombudsman.
Chandigarh: The Punjab Haryana High Court on Wednes-
day granted bail to senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader
Bikram Singh Majithia, in jail over his alleged involvement
in a drugs case registered under NDPS Act in December
2021. The court had reserved the order on the bail plea on
July 29. The leader is currently at Patiala Central Jail.
Kolkata: Calcutta HC stayed probe in an FIR against an
artist who posted an intimate scene between Krishna and
Radha in Facebook. Justice Shampa Sarkar said the com-
plaint didn’t disclose any cognisable offence on the face of
it, and Sec 295A, relating to hurting religious sentiments,
would only be attracted if there was deliberate intention.
GANGSTER
BISHNOI IN
2-DAY REMAND
Faridkot: The Farid-
kot police got a
2-day remand
of gangster Law-
rence Bishnoi, a
‘mastermind’ in the
killing of leader Sid-
hu Moose Wala, in
connection with an
extortion case at
Kotkapura in Farid-
kot district.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav speaks to the media after the
oath ceremony, at Raj Bhavan, in Patna on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Bihar BJP President Sanjay Jaiswal with party MP Ravi Shankar
Prasad, Sushil Kumar Modi, MoS Nityanand Rai and other leaders
stage Mahadharna in Patna on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
After Bihar...
in Maharashtra. Mean-
while, a couple of new
ministersfromtheShin-
de camp, Dada Bhuse
and Shambhuraj Desai
have expressed dissatis-
faction over the portfo-
lios allocated to them
with Desai averse to be-
ing the new Excise Min-
ister due to the adverse
imagery (alcohol) it
bearsintheruralhinter-
land.
Mantralaya...
had to dig deep to make
it to the end of the day
.
While it has a sanc-
tioned strength of 157
employees, the canteen
only has 90 personnel-
-many of whom are con-
tract employees who
leave their stations at
5.30 pm on the dot each
day
. “This placed a huge
burden on the limited
staff. We need perma-
nent employees as the
contractual staffers are
time-conscious, gener-
ally refusing to put in
any extra hours of work.
Even our strength is far
lower than the sanc-
tioned strength of the
canteen. Things will
come close to a collapse
every time there is a
crowded house at Man-
tralaya,” a staffer said
before hurrying off
with a tray full of the
cabinet specials.
FROM PG 1

06
INDIA
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Before the
monsoon session of Par-
liament,theAamAadmi
Party had three MPs in
the Rajya Sabha and
their leader was Sanjay
Singh. Apart from San-
jay Singh, the other two
MPs - Sushil Gupta and
NDA Gupta had nothing
to do with politics, so
they used to sit in the
house like a statue and
Sanjay Singh used to
take over the command.
In every case he spoke
and appeared every-
where. But now the situ-
ation has changed. Now
seven new MPs have
reached the Rajya Sab-
ha, including Raghav
Chadha. His special po-
sition within the party
can be gauged from the
fact that he was made
the chairman of the
committee advising the
government in Punjab.
Raghav Chadha domi-
natedtheRajyaSabhain
the monsoon session of
Parliament. From day
one he started partici-
pating in debates, giving
notices, raising ques-
tions of order. One day
heraisedthequestionof
arrangement half a doz-
en times. Not only this,
even at the time of the
farewell of Chairman
Venkaiah Naidu, there
was much discussion
about his speech. Now
he has started seeking
people’s opinion on the
issues to be raised in
Parliament. In the mon-
soon session, Sanjay
Singhsomehowgothim-
self suspended and sat
on dharna but the whole
session was dominated
byRaghavChadha.Now,
the contest is between
these two as the remain-
ing eight MPs are out of
the contest.
Will Chadha dominate AAP’s ‘politics’ in RS?
New Delhi (PTI): A
new sub-variant of the
coronavirus strain
Omicron has been de-
tected in samples sent
for genome sequencing
in Delhi’s Lok Nayak
Jai Prakash Narayan
Hospital, a top medical
officer of the hospital
said.
The Omicron sub-
variant BA 2.75 has
been detected in many
samples, LNJP Hospi-
tal Medical Director Dr
Suresh Kumar told a
news channel.
The sub-variant has
been found amid a
sharp rise in COVID-19
cases and positivity
rate, or cases per 100
tests, in the national
capital. The number of
people getting admit-
ted to the hospital is
also rising, the Medical
Director said.
This Omicron vari-
ant is spreading faster
and likely escaping im-
munity from previous
infection and vaccina-
tion, Dr Kumar said.
“Omicron’s sub-var-
iant BA 2.75 has been
found in the report. It
has more transmission
rate. This has emerged
in the study report of
90 samples sent for ge-
nome sequencing. This
new sub-variant also
attacks people already
having antibodies and
also those who have
takenvaccines,”DrKu-
mar said.
MORETRANSMISSIBLEOMICRON
VARIANT EVADING IMMUNITY
SUB-VARIANT BA 2.75 HAS BEEN DETECTED IN MANY
SAMPLES IS LEADING TO MORE HOSPITALISATION
Bhubaneswar: Keep-
ing in view the spread
of COVID-19, Odisha
Chief Minister Naveen
Patnaik has decided
not to celebrate Rak-
sha Bandhan Ustav’
and urged people to re-
main alert during the
festival, a CMO official
said on Wednesday.
Patnaik has urged the
party leaders, workers
and other well wishers
not to visit his resi-
dence on the occasion
on Thursday as he has
decided not to take
part in Raksha Band-
han Ustav this time,
the official said. Odis-
ha’s COVID-19 tally
rose to 13,20,667 on
Wednesdayas 653more
people, including 128
children, tested posi-
tive for the infection, a
health bulletin said.
The toll rose to 9,152 as
a 67-year-old man suc-
cumbed to the patho-
gen in Balasore dis-
trict, the health depart-
ment said. The state
had logged 487 infec-
tions on Wednesday
.
PATNAIK NOT TO CELEBRATE RAKSHA BANDHAN DUE TO COVID-19
CRUSIAL READ
New Delhi: The Centre
has approved Biological
E’s Corbevax for restrict-
ed use in an emergency
as a heterologous booster
dose, official sources
confirmed on Wednesday.
Last month the Na-
tional Technical Advisory
Group on Immunisation
recommended Biologi-
cal E’s CORBEVAX as a
heterologous booster for
adults above 18. On June
4, Biological E. Limited, a
Hyderabad-based pharma
company announced that
its CORBEVAX vaccine
has been approved by
Drug Controller General
of India (DCGI).
Aizawl: Mizoram
reported 135 new
COVID-19 cases on
Wednesday, 108 less
than the previous day,
with the tally mounting to
2,34,522, a health official
said. The death toll rose
to 715 after three more
persons from Aizawl,
Lunglei and Lawngtlai
districts succumbed to
the infection in the last
24 hours, he said. Mean-
while, Himachal Pradesh
recorded 526 fresh
COVID-19 cases and one
fatality due to the disease
on Wednesday, pushing
the state’s infection tally
to 3,06,269.
CORBEVAX SHOT
OKAYED FOR 18
YEARS ABOVE
NEW CASES SURGE
IN MIZORAM,
HIMACHAL
New Delhi: India today recorded 16,047 new
coronavirus cases and 54 fatalities including
six reconciled by Kerala, according to the latest
Union Health Ministry data. With these addi-
tions, the country’s overall Covid figures rose to
4,41,90,697 cases and 5,26,826 deaths. The data
updated at 8 am showed active cases came down
by 3,546 in a span of 24 hours to 1,28,261, now
constituting 0.29 per cent of the total infections.
The COVID-19 recovery rate stood at 98.52 per
cent, the health ministry said.
New Delhi: The Agniveer recruitment rally for female
candidates under the general duty category for mili-
tary police would be held from November 1 to 3 here.
According to a Defence statement, the recruitment is
scheduled to be held at Manekshaw Parade ground here
by the Recruiting Office (HQ) Bengaluru under the aegis
of Headquarters Recruiting Zone Bengaluru for volunteer
female candidates from Karnataka, Kerala and the Union
Territory of Lakshadweep and Mahe. The rally is being
held for enrolment of Agniveer General Duty (Women) in
the Corps of Military Police in the Army.
New Delhi: The election to
select Congress president
will start from August 21,
sources said. MP Rahul
Gandhi has not revealed if
he would contest for the
post, which his mother
Sonia Gandhi is heading.
Sources said requests by
Congress leaders to Gandhi
to become party chief once
again - he quit as Congress
president after the party’s
defeat in the 2019 general
election - has received no
response. The party has
been deliberating for long
on possibility of having a
non-Gandhi as chief.
Jammu: Election Commis-
sion has set a new deadline
of November 25 for the
final date for publication of
electoral rolls in Jammu
Kashmir. It said those at-
taining 18 years on October
1 or earlier will be eligible to
become voters. Earlier, the
EC had given a timeline of
October 31 for the publica-
tion of the electoral rolls
in J-K, where the special
summary revision is being
undertaken after 3 years
and the first such exercise
after the boundaries of as-
sembly seats were redrawn
in delimitation exercise.
Chandigarh: Over 900 peo-
ple died in road accidents
caused by stray cattle in
Haryana in the last five
years, the state govern-
ment has informed the as-
sembly. Total 3,383 such
road accidents occurred
during the 5-year period in
the state, Agriculture and
Animal Husbandry Minister
JP Dalal said. In these
accidents, 919 people
lost their lives and 3,017
sustained injuries, he said
in response to a question
raised by Independent MLA
Balraj Kundu during the
ongoing assembly session.
Palakkad: A woman activ-
ist of the Democratic Youth
Federation of India (DYFI),
the youth wing of the ruling
CPI(M), was found stran-
gled to death at her house
in Chittilamchery in Kerala
on Wednesday, police said.
The 24-yr-old woman,
identified as Suryapriya,
was found dead in her
room in the house, they
said. The shocking incident
came to light after Sujesh,
hailing from nearby
Anakkappara, surrendered
before the Alathur police
confessing that he had
killed the woman.
INDIA LOGS 16,047 NEW COVID-19
CASES, 54 DEATHS IN 24 HOURS
AGNIVEER RECRUITMENT FOR WOMEN
CANDIDATES FROM NOVEMBER 1
ELECTION FOR CONG
CHIEF FROM AUG 21,
RAHUL KEEPS MUM
FINAL PUBLICATION
DATE FOR KASHMIR
ELECTORAL ROLLS
‘OVER 900 DEATHS
DUE TO ACCIDENTS
CAUSED BY CATTLE’
DYFI WOMAN
ACTIVIST FOUND
DEAD IN KERALA
A healthcare worker inoculates a farmer with a dose of
COVID-19 vaccine as part of COVID Vaccination Amrit
Mahotsava, in Imphal West. —FILE PHOTO
Kolkata (Agencies):
Trinamool came for-
ward with the ‘full
truth’ two days after a
public interest case
was filed on how the
properties of 19 lead-
ers and ministers of
TMC are increas-
ing. They claim the
BJP, Left and Congress
are running ‘half-
truth’ campaigns on
the issue. Of the 19
whose names came out,
five — Firhad Hakim,
Bratya Basu, Arup Roy,
Shiuli Saha and Moloy
Ghatak — held a press
conference and pre-
sented the ‘complete’
list in the meeting.
On Partha Chatter-
jee, Firhad said, “We
are all ashamed of
what Partha has done.
But that does not mean
that everyone in the
Trinamool is a thief. I
have a family business.
I have not hidden any
information,” he said.
‘Ashamed’ of Partha but
everyone is not thief: Min
MAMATA ANNOUNCES RS2L EX-GRATIA
TO BIRBHUM ACCIDENT VICTIMS’ KIN
Kolkata: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee expressed
her condolences on the fatal accident that happened in
the state’s Birbhum on Tuesday. Banerjee took to Twitter
and said that she was “deeply saddened” by the fatal
accident in Birbhum which claimed 9 lives. “My heartfelt
condolences to the families who lost their loved ones,”
she said in her tweet. “We’ll provide Rs 2 lakh to the
families of the deceased. Under the Somyabothi scheme,
Rs 2,000 will be provided to perform the last rites of
each deceased. Special GR to be provided to families of
deceased,” she added. Nine people were killed in a colli-
sion between an autorickshaw and a bus in the Mallarpur
police station area of Birbhum district on Tuesday.
WB Chief Min Mamata Banerjee throws the football at the
inauguration of the newly built tent camp of Mohun Bagan
Athletic Club, in Kolkata on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: In Uttar
Pradesh bureaucracy,
while the PCS Associa-
tion is sleeping soundly
with its ‘positioning’,
the PPS Association is
fighting for its rights
and existence.
PPS Association, an
organisation of Provin-
cial Police Service offic-
ers, met DGP Devendra
Chauhan, and informed
about the problems of
its cadre. Now, instruc-
tions have been given to
prepare a proposal and
send it to government.
AssociationPresident
Dinesh Yadav, Senior
Vice President Habibul
Hasan, Treasurer Vinay
Chandra, and others ap-
prised the DGP about
many more issues.
PPS Assn fights for right in UP
Lucknow: CM Yogi seems to be in a very strict mood.
After complaints against SP of Lalitpur, the officer was re-
moved and has been attached to DGP Headquarters while
DCP Gopal Chaudhary, posted in Lucknow Commission-
erate, has been made the new captain of Lalitpur. Bablu
Kumar, who has been waiting for a long time, has been
posted as SP Headquarters in Anti-Corruption Organiza-
tion Lucknow, while Poonam, who is waiting, has been
posted in 20th Corps PAC Azamgarh.
CM YOGI GOES TOUGH ON POLICE NEGLIGENCE
Chandigarh: BJP MP
Varun Gandhi took a
veiled dig at the Centre
over a viral video that
shows many people al-
leging they were forced
to buy a national flag for
Rs 20 when they visited
ration stores for provi-
sions. The Pilibhit MP,
who has been targeting
his party over a host of
issues, shared the video
on Twitter with a post
that read, “It would be
unfortunate if celebra-
tions to mark the 75th
anniversary of Inde-
pendence become a bur-
den for the poor.”
“Ration card holders
are being forced to buy
the national flag or de-
nied a share of grains
they are entitled to. It is
shameful to extract the
price of ‘Tiranga’,
which lives is in the
heart of every Indian,
by snatching the poor’s
morsel of food,” Mr
Gandhi added.
In the video, recorded
by a news portal in Har-
yana’s Karnal, people
are seen alleging that
they were forced to
pay Rs. 20 and buy the
national flag when they
went to collect ration at
a state-run depot.
A man in the video,
whoappearstobeastaff
at the ration depot, says
that they had received
orders that each person
taking ration had to buy
the flag for Rs. 20 and
put it up at their homes.
Thrissur (ANI): The
Enforcement Directo-
rate conducted raids at
Karuvannur Service
Co-Op Bank on 10 Au-
gust and a few other lo-
cations of four accused
in connection with an
alleged bank fraud case
in Thrissur. As per re-
ports, about `104 crores
of alleged fraud report-
ed in Karuvannur Ser-
vice Co-Op Bank Ltd.
The ED officials also
started simultaneous
raids at the residences
of five accused at the
CPI-M controlled Thris-
sur-based Karuvannur
Cooperative bank. Inci-
dentally, of the five ac-
cused where the raids
began, four are out on
bail.
The CPI-M controlled
Thrissur-based Karu-
vannur Cooperative
bank came into lime-
light a year ago and has
made frequent head-
lines.
New Delhi (PTI): Two
institutes of agri re-
search body ICAR have
developed an indige-
nous vaccine for Lumpy
Skin Disease in cattle
whichhasspreadacross
many states in the last
few months.
The Centre plans to
commercialise this vac-
cine, developed by the
two institutes of the In-
dian Council of Agri-
cultural Research
(ICAR), at the earliest
in order to control the
Lumpy Skin Disease
(LSD), which has led to
the death of cattle in six
states.
As of August 8, Ra-
jasthan has reported
2,111 deaths of cattle,
followed by Gujarat at
1,679, Punjab at 672,
Himachal Pradesh at
38, Andaman Nicobar
at 29 and Uttarakhand
at 26.
ICAR-National Re-
search Centre on
Equines (ICAR-NRCE),
Hisar (Haryana), in col-
laboration with ICAR-
Indian Veterinary Re-
search Institute (IVRI),
Izatnagar, Uttar
Pradesh has developed
a homologous live-at-
tenuated LSD vaccine
“Lumpi-ProVacInd”.
ICAR develops vaccine for
Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle
‘Shameful’: Varun on
‘Buy national flag to
get ration’ video
Karuvannur
Co-operative
Bank raided
SHAH TAKES UP PEN Defence Min Rajnath
Singh at the book
launch on the
speeches of Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah ‘Shabdansh’
edited by Shivanand
Dwivedi as Delhi
BJP President Adesh
Gupta and others
look on, at NDMC
Convention Centre,
in New Delhi on
Wednesday.
—PHOTO BY ANI
BJP rejigs
organisation, Sunil
Bansal appointed
nat’l gen secy
New Delhi: Effecting impor-
tant organisational changes
before the 2024 General Elec-
tions, BJP Chief JP Nadda on
Wednesday appointed Sunil
Bansal as the party’s national
general secretary and also
handed him the charges of
important states such as
West Bengal, Telangana, and
Odisha. Bansal’s appoint-
ment assumes significance
as the BJP is determined
to gain more seats in West
Bengal and emerge as the
alternative force in Telangana
and Odisha in the 2024 Lok
Sabha polls.

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 52,377.00 112.00 0.21 (Per 10g)
SILVER 59,187.00 396.00 0.67 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 79.51 0.15 0.18
GBPINR 96.169 0.4167 0.4314
CURRENCIES
‘Gold,asourceofROIamidpolicytightening’
New Delhi (ANI): Against
the backdrop of monetary
policy tightening by sever-
al central banks including
the Reserve Bank of India,
gold as an asset may offer
investors a source of re-
turn on their investments
and effective diversifica-
tion of the portfolio, said
World Gold Council in its
latest Investment Update.
Gold is widely considered a
safe-haven asset and a
hedge against volatility in
financial markets. “Inter-
est rate hikes are driven by
rising inflation. In the
short term, higher rates
are a headwind for gold,
but in the current environ-
ment they remain histori-
cally low - in real terms
mostly negative across de-
veloped markets,” the
council said.
Historical data, the coun-
cil said, shows that gold
has offered attractive re-
turns during India’s mone-
tary-tightening cycles. In
five rate-hiking cycles
since 2004 gold in Indian
rupees averaged an annu-
alised return of 19.5 per
cent, outperforming other
major assets. For instance,
over the past 41 years, gold
has delivered an average
annual return of 10 per
cent in rupees, clearly out-
performing retail inflation,
which grew by an average
of 7.3 per cent over the
same period. Gold’s perfor-
mance has also been par-
ticularly strong in periods
of high inflation, increas-
ing by 12 per cent on aver-
age when inflation rose
above 6 per cent, it said.
Central banks around the
world have responded to
rising inflation.
Retail inflation was at
7.01 per cent in June and
inflation data for July is
due on Friday
.
THE WORLD GOLD COUNCIL SAYS...
DELHIVERY SHARES
SINK 7% AFTER
LOSSES WIDEN
Mumbai: Shares of technol-
ogy-driven logistics startup
Delhivery sank over 7 percent
on August
10 after the
company’s
June quarter
earnings
worsened concerns over the
sustainability of the stock’s
rich valuations. The company
reported a net loss of ` 399
crore for the quarter ended
June 2022 as against a net
loss of ` 129.6 crore a year
back. —FIB
DOLLAR SOLID
AHEAD OF THE US
INFLATION DATA
Singapore:The dollar traded
firmly in anticipation of US
inflation data, which even if
it comes in
softer-than-
expected is
still likely to be
so red hot that
steep US interest rate rises will
be required to rein it in. The
figures are due at 1230 GMT.
Economists expect year-on-
year headline inflation running
at a scorching 8.7%, a small
retreat from June’s whopping
9.1% figure. —PTI
JSW ENERGY TO BUY
MYTRAH ENERGY
ASSETS FOR `10,530 CR
New Delhi: JSW Neo Energy,
a wholly owned subsidiary of
JSW Energy, said on Wednes-
day it has
agreed to
acquire a port-
folio of 1,753
MW of renew-
able energy generation capac-
ity from Mytrah Energy (India)
for ` 10,530 crore. Necessary
definitive agreements have
been signed between the
parties. The transaction is
subject to the approval of the
Competition. —ANI
IRCTC Q1FY23
RESULTS: TRIPLE-
DIGIT RISE IN PROFIT
New Delhi: IRCT has reported
strong earnings in the first
quarter of the FY2022-23
(Q1FY23). The
company’s
both top and
bottom lines
reported
around triple-digit year-on-
year (YoY) growth during the
quarter. IRCTC’s net profit
grew by 185% to ` 248.5 cr in
the April-June quarter of FY23
as against ` 87.2cr in the
corresponding quarter of the
previous fiscal. —ANI
HPL ELECTRIC AND POWER LTD REPORTS SOLID
Q1FY23 RESULTS
New Delhi: HPL Electric and Power Ltd, an established electrical
equipment manu company in India, producing a diverse portfo-
lio of electric equipment, announced its financial results for the
Quarter ended June 30th, 2022. The
revenue surged by 129% YoY to
295.6 Cr in Q1FY23, compared to
129cr in Q1FY22.Commenting on
the results, Gautam Seth, Joint MD,
and CFO, said, “Despite a challeng-
ing economic environment and various geo-political uncertainties,
we have demonstrated robust performance in both business
segments delivered strong numbers.” —PTI
OTHER STORIES
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: Shares of Tata
Chemicals gained nearly 9
% in morning trade on
Wednesday after the
company posted strong
first-quarter earnings.
Shares of Tata Chemicals
opened on a bullish note
at ` 999.95, then gained
further ground to touch
1,043, registering a jump
of 8.96% over its previ-
ous close. On the NSE,
the stock opened at `
1,015, then climbed to
1,038.05, higher by
8.47% over its last close.
Tata Chemicals on Tues-
day reported an 86.25%
increase in consolidated
net profit to ` 637 cr dur-
ing the quarter ending
June 30. —PTI
New Delhi: Oil prices
edged lower after industry
data showed US crude in-
ventories unexpectedly
rose last week, signaling a
potential hiccup in demand.
US crude stocks rose by
about 2.2 mn barrels for
the week ended August 5,
according to market sourc-
es citing American Petrole-
um Institute figures. Ana-
lysts had forecast a small
400,000-barrel drop in
crude inventories. US West
Texas Intermediate crude
futures declined 16 cents to
$90.34 a barrel. —PTI
OIL PRICES DIP
AFTER RISE IN US
CRUDE INVENTORIES
TATA CHEMICALS
GAINS NEARLY 9% IN
JUNE QUARTER
Mumbai: The share
price of telecom firm
Bharti Airtel rose on
Wednesday after the
company announced an
impressive 466 per cent
year-on-year surge in its
net profit for the first
quarter of the current fi-
nancial year. Bharti Air-
tel’s share was trading
0.67 per cent higher at
`709.05 on the BSE at
9.48 am. The scrip
started the day sharply
higher at ` 719 against
its previous session’s
close at ` 704.35. —ANI
BHARTI AIRTEL
SHARES CLIMB
AFTER 466% SURGE
New Delhi: Drug firm
Pfizer on Wednesday said
its Managing Director S
Sridhar has resigned from
the company.Sridhar has
expressed his intention to
take early retirement and
has tendered his resigna-
tion, the company said in
a regulatory filing. He will
continue to serve in his
current position until the
identification, selection
and transition to the new
leadership takes place in
the company, it added.
Over the past 14 years,
Sridhar has led a number
of key leadership posi-
tions in Pfizer. —PTI
DRUG FIRM
PFIZER’S MD
SRIDHAR RESIGNS
Centre releases `1.16 lakh crore as tax devolution to states
TO REGULATE FRAUDS
New Delhi (ANI) : The
Central government re-
leased two instalments of
tax devolution to states
amounting to `1,16,665.75
crore as against the normal
monthly devolution of
`58,332.86 crore, the Minis-
try of Finance said.
Uttar Pradesh has got the
highestamountof `20,928.62
crore followed by Bihar at `
11,734.22 crore. “The Gov-
ernment has released two
instalments of tax devolu-
tion to State Governments
amounting to `1,16,665.75 cr
onAugust10,2022,asagainst
normal monthly devolution
of `58,332.86 crore,” the Un-
ion Ministry of Finance
said.“Thisisinlinewiththe
commitment of the Govern-
ment of India to strengthen
the hands of States to accel-
eratetheircapitalanddevel-
opmental expenditure,” the
ministry said. Andhra
Pradesh has got ` 4,721.44
crore; Chhattisgarh has re-
ceived `3,974.82 crore and
Madhya Pradesh has re-
ceived ` 9,158.24 cr.
WB has received Rs
8,776.76 crore as two instal-
ments of tax devolution
from the Union govern-
ment. Gujarat has received
`4,057.64 crore; Haryana
has received `1,275.14
crore; Maharashtra has re-
ceived `7,369.76 cr; Ra-
jasthan has received `
7,030.28 crore and TN has
received Rs 4,758.78 crore.
WHO GETS WHAT...
States Amount
Uttar Pradesh `20,928.62 cr
Bihar `11,734.22 cr
West Bengal `8,776.76 cr
Maharashtra `7,369.76 cr
Rajasthan `7,030.28 cr
Tamil Nadu `4,758.78 cr
Andhra Pradesh `4,721.44 cr
Mumbai(ANI): The Re-
serve Bank of India (RBI)
on Wednesday released the
first set of norms to regu-
late digital lending to crack
down on the growing num-
ber of online frauds and
unlawful activities.
As per the new norms,
all loan disbursals and re-
payments have to be exe-
cuted only between the
bank accounts of the bor-
rower and the regulated
entity without any pass-
through or pool account of
the lending service provid-
er (LSP) or any third party
.
The Reserve Bank’s regu-
latory framework is fo-
cused on the digital lending
ecosystem of RBI’s Regu-
lated Entities (REs) and the
Lending Service Providers
(LSPs) engaged by them to
extend various permissible
credit facilitation services.
As regards entities author-
ised to carry out lending as
per other statutory/regula-
tory provisions but not
regulated by RBI the re-
spective regulator/ control-
ling authority may consid-
er formulating or enacting
appropriate rules/regula-
tions on digital lending
based on the recommenda-
tions of WGDL.
For the entities lending
outside the purview of any
statutory/ regulatory pro-
visions, the WGDL has sug-
gested specific legislative
and institutional interven-
tions for consideration by
the Central Government to
curb the illegitimate lend-
ing activity being carried
out by such entities.
The Reserve Bank is stat-
utorily mandated to oper-
ate the credit system of the
country to its advantage. In
this endeavour, the Reserve
Bank has encouraged inno-
vation in the financial sys-
tem, products and credit
delivery methods while en-
suring their orderly
growth, preserving financ-
ing stability and ensuring
protection of depositors’
and customers’ interest.
Recently, innovative
methods of designing and
delivery of credit products
andtheirservicingthrough
Digital Lending route have
acquired prominence.
RBI issues first set of
norms for digital lending
THE ROOT
CAUSES

z The concerns primarily
relate to unbridled engagement
of third parties, mis-selling,
breach of data privacy, unfair
business conduct, charging of
exorbitant interest rates and
unethical recovery practices.

z Certain concerns have
emerged which, if not mitigated,
may erode the confidence of
members of the public in digi
lending ecosystem.

z Earlier, Reserve Bank had
constituted a Working Group
on ‘digi lending through (web
mobile apps)’ (WGDL).
Washington: Elon Musk,
the world’s richest man,
has sold 7.92 million shares
of Tesla Inc worth around
$6.88 billion, as per a series
of regulatory filings by the
company
.
According to the Securi-
ties and Exchange Com-
mission (SEC), Elon Musk,
CEO of Tesla Inc, sold
around 7.92 million shares
of the company between
August 5 and August 9.
Musk has sold Tesla shares
just months after declaring
that he would not sell any
more stock of the company
.
“No further TSLA sales
planned after today,” Elon
Musk had said in a tweet
on April 29. Tesla’s share
price has slumped by
around 30 percent so far
this year. The scrip
traded at around
$850 on Tuesday
.
Musk is in-
volved in a high-
stakes legal battle
with the
microblog-
ging site
T w i t t e r.
Twitter re-
c e n t l y
sued Musk after he decided
to back out of the $44 bil-
lion takeover deal.
In April, Musk reached
an acquisition agreement
with Twitter at $54.20 per
share in a transaction val-
ued at approximately $44
billion. However, Musk
put the deal on hold in
May to allow his team
to review the veracity
of Twitter’s claim
that less than 5 per-
cent of ac-
counts on
the plat-
form are
bots or
spam.
Elon Musk sells Tesla
shares worth $6.88bn
Football World
Cup revs up TV
sales: Report
New Delhi: The global TV
market is expected to show
signsof recoveryin2022and
beyond on account of im-
provements in the supply of
large LCD panels -- which
was the primary obstacle
manufacturers struggled
within 2021, as per Kagan, a
media research group with-
in global financial services
information provider SP
Global Market Intelligence.
The rapid expansion of resi-
dential broadband penetra-
tion, it said, is opening up
the addressable smart TV
market and driving smart
TV penetration in total.
Int rate hikes are
driven by rising
inflation. In
short term, higher rates
are a headwind for gold,
but in the current envi-
ronment they remain low.
—World Gold Council
Mumbai(PTI):Benchmark
BSESensexandNiftyclosed
on a flat note after a volatile
session on Wednesday prof-
it booking in IT and realty
shares negated gains in
metal and oil gas stocks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex
ended 35.78 points or 0.06
per cent lower at 58,817.29,
whilethebroaderNSENifty
inched9.65pointsor0.06per
cent higher at 17,534.75. The
market remained range-
bound for the most part of
thesessionasinvestorskept
their exposure low due to
weak global cues, traders
said. Bajaj Finance was the
toploserintheSensexpack,
shedding 2.66 per cent, fol-
lowed by NTPC, HCL Tech,
Wipro, Asian Paints, Ultra
Cement and SBI.
On the other hand, Tata
Steel, Bharti Airtel, ICICI
Bank, LT and IndusInd
Bank were among the gain-
ers. Equity markets were
closed on Tuesday on ac-
count of ‘Muharram’. The
rupee appreciated 15 p to
close at 79.48 (provisional)
against the US dollar.
Sensex, Nifty close almost
on flat note; IT stocks weigh
THE TOP
INDEX

z Bajaj Finance was the top
loser in the Sensex pack,
shedding 2.66 per cent,
followed by NTPC, HCL
Tech, Wipro
‘MAY-DAY’
SAGA

z In April, Musk reached an
acquisition agreement with
Twitter at $54.20 per share
in a transaction valued at
approximately $44 billion.

z Musk is involved in a high-
stakes legal battle with the
microblogging site Twitter.

z However, Musk put the
deal on hold in May

08
2NDFRONT
Greetings on the occasion of
Rakshabandhan! May the
relationship between brother and
sister always be a sustaining one.
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
GUTKHA, TOBACCO
PRODUCTS
SEIZED; 1 HELD
TIGER CARCASS
FOUND ON
RAILWAY TRACK
COPS SEIZE
266KG GANJA
WORTH `80 LAKH
5 HURT AS BEST
BUS CRASHES IN
DINDOSHI
Palghar: Police seized
banned gutkha and
other tobacco products
worth Rs5.67 lakh in
Palghar district and
arrested a 40-year-old
man, police said on
Wednesday. Gunny
bags containing the
prohibited items were
found hidden in the
seats of a car in the
Nandore Naka area on
Monday, a senior police
officer said. A case has
been registered under
the Food Safety and
Standards Act 2006
and the Indian Penal
Code.
Chandrapur: The badly
mutilated carcass of
a tiger was found
on a railway track in
Chandrapur district,
home to the Tadoba
Andhari Tiger Reserve,
on Wednesday morn-
ing. A railway gangman
spotted the carcass
on Kazipet-Balharshah
railway track in Rajura
while patrolling, and
alerted forest person-
nel. Prima facie, the
feline—suspected to be
a tigress—died in an
accident probably in the
wee hours of Wednes-
day, officials said.
Mumbai: The Anti-
Narcotics Cell of the
Mumbai crime branch
seized 266kg ganja—
estimated to be worth
Rs80 lakh—hidden in
two cars and arrested
two persons, a police
official said on Wednes-
day. The accused,
Thane residents Ashwin
Kumar Ashok Sharma
(32) and Raju Ramesh
Lohar (24), were ar-
rested in Airoli near
Thane on Tuesday. A
case has been regis-
tered under the Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances Act.
Mumbai: Five people
were injured after the
brakes of a BEST bus
failed at Dindoshi on
Tuesday, hitting a scoot-
er and an autorickshaw
before ramming into
a tree. BEST spokes-
person Manoj Varade
said the injured include
bus driver Kundalik
Kisan Dhongde (43),
conductor Abasaheb
Pandurang Kore (54),
autorickshaw driver
Howal Sarku Pande
(45), and passengers
Govind Prasad Pathak
(80) and Rajnish Kumar
Pathak.
CRUCIAL READ
Pune: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Police have arrested
two persons for allegedly posing as policemen
and stealing motorcycles and selling them in the
outskirts of the city. The accused have been identi-
fied as Deepak Narayan Bansode (31), a resident
of Thomas Colony, Mamrudi and Shrimant Vinayak
Survase (29), a resident of Vahlekarwadi Chinchwad.
On Tuesday, they were apprehended near Gurudwara
Chowk in Vahlekarwadi by police. Police have recov-
ered 14 motorcycles worth ₹6,96,000.
TWO HELD IN PUNE FOR POSING AS
POLICEMEN, STEALING MOTORCYCLES
Mumbai: A 43-year-old unemployed woman in
Mumbai fell prey to fraudsters who offered her a
“job” to invest in products online and get a com-
mission along with the money invested. Following a
message text on August 08, the woman was trained
by one Reetedh Sharma on Telegram on ‘how to
make and withdraw money’ and how to increase
sales of commodities. The woman was lured by the
quick money-making business and ended up buying
14 products such as face cream, t-shirts, shoes,
phone, bracelet, etc and spent Rs3.03 lakh but she
did not get any commission on them.
CYBER-FRAUDSTERS OFFER ONLINE
SALES JOB, DUPE WOMAN OF `3.54L
SC grants bail to Varavara Rao
IN THE COURTYARD
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on
Wednesday granted
bail on medical
grounds to poet and
activist P Varavara
Rao in the Bhima Ko-
regaon case.
A bench headed by
Justice UU Lalit ob-
served that the medical
condition of the 82-year-
old Rao—who is cur-
rently out on interim
bailonhealthgrounds—
has not improved to
such an extent that the
relief granted earlier to
him be withdrawn.
The top court noted
that though the charge
sheet in the case has
been filed, some of the
accused have not been
apprehended yet. The
matter has not been tak-
en up for framing of
charges against the ac-
cused, who are before
the court.
The bench, also com-
prising Justice Anirud-
dha Bose and Justice
Sudhanshu Dhulia, ob-
served that various ap-
plications preferred by
the accused seeking dis-
charge are still pending
consideration.
“The medical condi-
tion of the appellant
(Rao) has not improved
to such an extent over a
period of time that the
facility of bail which
was granted earlier be
withdrawn,” said the
bench.
“Considering the to-
tality of circumstances,
in our view, the appel-
lant is entitled to the re-
lief of bail on medical
grounds,” it said.
During the argu-
ments, senior advocate
Anand Grover, appear-
ing for Rao, referred to
his medical condition
and said even charges
have not been framed in
the case.
Additional Solicitor
General SV Raju, ap-
pearing for the NIA, ve-
hemently opposed the
plea and argued that
materials on record
shows the involvement
of Rao in a deep-rooted
conspiracy and he is not
entitled to be granted
the relief of bail.
While granting bail to
Rao, the apex court said
he shall not leave the
area of Greater Mumbai
without the express per-
mission from the trial
court. “The appellant
shallnotinanywaymis-
use his liberty
, nor shall
he get in touch with any
witnesses or try to influ-
ence the course of inves-
tigation,” it said.
THE CASE
ED moves HC
against special
court bail order
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The En-
forcement Directo-
rate (ED) moved the
Bombay High Court
on Wednesday
against a special
court order grant-
ing interim bail to
two persons arrest-
ed in a money laun-
dering case, after
they were dis-
charged from the
‘predicate’ (sched-
uled) offence which
led to the ED case.
The investigation
agency’s advocate
Hiten Venegaonkar
submitted the appeal
before a single bench
of Justice Bharati
Dangre seeking ur-
gent hearing.
The special court
hearing matters per-
taining to the Preven-
tion of Money Laun-
dering Act (PMLA)
had on Monday grant-
ed bail to Babulal
Verma and Kamalk-
ishor Gupta. They
were arrested by the
ED in connection
with a case registered
against them by the
Aurangabad police.
Venegaonkar told
the HC on Wednesday
that the special court
granted interim bail
to the two accused
without giving the ED
a chance to respond.
But, Justice Dangre
refused to intervene
at this stage or list the
appeal for urgent
hearing.
In its appeal, the
ED said that the spe-
cial PMLA court had
arrived at the conclu-
sion that it does not
have jurisdiction to
extend the judicial
custody of the ac-
cused in the absence
of the predicate of-
fence at the interim
stage itself.
After it granted
interim bail to two
in money
laundering case,
due to absence of
scheduled
offence
Ex-MP Somaiya, son get anticipatory bail in cheating case
Mumbai (PTI): The
Bombay High Court
on Wednesday grant-
ed anticipatory bail
to Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) leader
Kirit Somaiya and
his son in a case of
alleged misappropri-
ation of public mon-
ey. The fund had
been collected for
the restoration of
the decommissioned
naval aircraft carri-
er INS Vikrant.
A single bench of
Justice Bharati Dan-
gre allowed the plea of
Somaiyas for anticipa-
tory bail in the case
and made “absolute”
the interim protection
from arrest granted by
the court to the duo on
April 13 this year.
An FIR was regis-
tered against the BJP
leader and his son Neil
Somaiya on April 06 at
the Trombay police sta-
tion in Mumbai, follow-
ing a complaint by an
ex-Army person. The
complainant claimed
that former MP Somai-
ya had collected Rs57
crorefromthepublicin
2013 for restoration of
INS Vikrant.
The money was,
however, never put to
use or deposited with
the governor’s office,
as per the initial plan,
the complaint stated.
On Wednesday
, sen-
ior counsel Shirish
Gupte, who appeared
fortheprosecution,told
the HC that the city po-
lice did not require So-
maiya and his son’s im-
mediate custody
.
Advocate Ashok
Mundargi, who ap-
peared for the Somai-
yas, denied all allega-
tions and told the high
court that this was a
highly “politicized mat-
ter”.
Justice Dangre also
noted that the allega-
tions against the BJP
leader and his son were
“unsubstantiated”.
“The allegation
(against the duo) is of
misappropriation of
funds. Though the
complaint alleged that
a whopping sum of
Rs57 crore was collect-
ed, there was no evi-
dence of misappropri-
ation,” the HC said.
Specific state-
ments (of the
police) and
the investigation do
not lead to such an
inference (of misap-
propriation). The
specific order grant-
ing interim protec-
tion is made absolute.
—Justice Bharati
Dangre, Bombay High
Court
Bench refuses to
withdraw relief to
octogenarian
activist in Bhima
Koregaon case
In this Aug 29, 2018 file photo, writer P Varavara Rao being produced at a court in Pune; On
Wednesday, the SC granted bail to Rao, an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case, on
medical grounds. —PTI PHOTO
LAST-MINUTE SHOPPING ‘Letting rebel MLAs take oath
equals murder of democracy’
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A day after
the Maharashtra cab-
inet expansion, the
Shiv Sena claimed ad-
ministering ministe-
rial oath to rebels
MLAs, whose disqual-
ification pleas are
pending before the
Supreme Court,
amounted to murder
of democracy and the
Constitution.
“By finally taking the
ministerial oath, the re-
bels have taken a dip in
the Ganga river. But
will they be able to
wash the sin of betray-
al?” an editorial in the
Sena mouthpiece
‘Saamana’ asked on
Wednesday
.
When the plea of dis-
qualification is pending
before the Supreme
Court, administering
oath to the rebel MLAs
amounts to murder of
democracy and the Con-
stitution, the editorial
said.
This means they
don’t have any fear of
the judiciary. This
shows their confidence
that everything will
happen according to
their will, it said.
The Marathi daily
also slammed chief
minister Eknath Shin-
de for bowing before
Delhi seven times by go-
ing to the national capi-
tal before the cabinet
expansion.
Women purchase rakhis on the eve of Rakshabandhan in Navi Mumbai, Wednesday.
—PHOTO BY PTI
Governor Koshyari, CM Shinde and Dy CM Fadnavis with the
newly sworn-in ministers at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on Tuesday.
In an editorial piece of
‘Saamana’, Shiv Sena
asks of rebels ‘Will
they be able to wash
the sin of betrayal?’
Gearuptopayproperty
taxforFY2019-20 now
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC)
has decided to recov-
er pending property
tax dues for the year
2019-20 which is like-
ly to generate a reve-
nue of Rs300 crore.
The state govern-
ment in 2019 had ex-
empted property tax of
residential properties
measuring up to 500sq
ft, but later it was clar-
ified that only the gen-
eral tax component
was exempted.
“In 2019, the state
g o v e r n m e n t
cleared a bill to
exempt prop-
erty tax of
r e s i d e n -
tial prop-
e r t i e s
measuring up to 500 sq
ft. But the state gov-
ernment only exempt-
ed the general tax
while other taxes,
cesses such as water
tax, water benefit tax,
road tax, tree tax, and
state and BMC educa-
tion cess were un-
changed,” a BMC offi-
cial said.
“We will recover the
pending tax which was
not recovered in that
year due to some tech-
nical error,” he added.
—FILE
PHOTO

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,
AUGUST 11, 2022
Raksha Bandhan is a bond of love, of reaffirming
the special connection that siblings share, it is a
proclamation that amid the storm of life, a sibling
is a safe harbour. City First brings to you the
information on the bonds of B-Town siblings!
aksha Bandhan
is one such festi-
val in the Indian
tradition that is
dedicated to sib-
lings. In this,
the sisters tie a
‘rakhi’ around their
brother’s wrist, symbol-
ically protecting them.
But looking at the pre-
sent day, it’s not just
about the brothers and
sisters, but about any
sibling for that matter
of fact. There are people
who tie a rakhi to their
sisters with a share of
responsibility to protect
each other, which is re-
ally sweet; isn’t it?
This festival is also
observed as the last day
of the Hindu Lunar cal-
endar month of Sawan.
The expression ‘Raksha
Bandhan’ in Sanskrit
refers to the bond of
protection, obligation
or care towards one an-
other. Talking about the
brother-sister jodis in
the Bollywood industry,
there are a few of them
that not just made heads
turn with their skills,
but also with how ador-
able they actually are
together!
DHANUSHREE VYAS
cityfirst@firtsindia.co.in
R
n Sara Ibrahim Ali Khan: Born to Saif
Ali Khan and Amrita Singh, these star kids
have set major goals on social media,
from travelling to celebrating festivals
together.
n Janhvi Arjun Kapoor: Considering the
fact that they are step-siblings, it is safe to
say that their relationship is looked upon
by many people. Arjun sure is an extreme-
ly protective brother and loves all of his
sisters from the bottom of his heart.
n Ranbir Riddhima Kapoor: Born to
Neetu and late Rishi Kapoor, these Kapoor
siblings are always in support of each
other. May it be a big incident or a small
moment of happiness, both of them are
there with each other, no matter what.
n Sonam Harshvardhan Kapoor: Being
born to Anil Sunita Kapoor, this set of
Kapoor siblings is fun to watch. May it be
a talk show or a video on social media,
this jodi is undoubtedly loved by everyone.

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