20052022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

Former Mumbai EOW chief left in limbo without fresh posting
Renni Abraham
Mumbai: The irony
will not be lost upon
the Joint Commis-
sioner of police, eco-
nomic offences wing
(EOW), Niket Kau-
shik, who was sud-
denly transferred
out of his post in
April 2022 and has
been languishing
ever since, without
being offered a new
posting.
Almost exactly a
year ago, Kaushik had
issued a notice to unit
heads stating, “Possi-
ble transfers of offic-
ers who are complet-
ing four years in EOW
as of May 31, 2021, is
not ruled out in up-
coming general trans-
fers (which occurs
every year in June).
Hence all unit heads
are hereby directed
that henceforth not to
give such officers the
investigation of new
cases.”
Ironically, Kaushik
himself was shunted
out of the EOW last
month, before he
could complete a
tenure of two
years.
There is speculation
in police cir-
cles that
there was
pressure
b e i n g
brought
to bear
u p o n
Kaushik
to regis-
ter a case
against a
sen-
ior politician; he was
moved out when he
refused.
“ K a u s h i k
was replaced
by Additional
Commission-
er of Police
( N o r t h )
Pravind Pad-
wal, who was
promoted and
g i v e n
charge of the Mumbai
EOW. Strangely, despite
four marathon sessions
of questioning of the
senior political leader
(and his son) by the
new EOW Chief, the in-
tended case did not get
registered nor, did the
police arrest him,” a
well-placed official told
First India.
“The police depart-
ment has always been
treated like a hand-
maiden by the politi-
cal class. Conscien-
tious police offic-
ers, therefore,
face the prospect
of being side-
lined for refusing to
listen to the diktats of
their political mas-
ters,” a retired Indian
Administrative Ser-
vice officer, who has
served as an addition-
al chief secretary
(Home) told First In-
dia, asking not to be
named.
In February this
year, former Director-
General of Maharash-
tra Sanjay Pande was
appointed as the Mum-
bai Police Commis-
sioner to replace He-
mant Nagrale, who is
believed to have simi-
larly fallen afoul of
the MVA government.
“Why else would the
high profile Mumbai
CP-designated IPS of-
ficer be suddenly
shunted out and post-
ed as the Director of
the Maharashtra State
Security Guard Board,
with its nondescript
office located in the
World Trade Centre in
Cuffe Parade in south
Mumbai?” asks a sen-
ior BJP leader and
adds, “Nagrale had
also similarly, de-
clined to register the
case against the oppo-
sition party leader
and paid the price.”
Niket Kaushik hadn’t
completed two years in
office before he was
replaced, apparently under
political pressure
Renni Abraham
M u m b a i :
B h a r a t i y a
Janta Party
(BJP) leaders
from Maharash-
tra including
leader of the op-
position
D eve n -
dra Fad-
navis and
BJP’s state
p r e s i -
d e n t
C h a n -
d rakant
Patil met
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah in New Del-
hi on Thursday over
the forthcoming elec-
tions for six Rajya Sab-
ha seats from the state.
According to a sen-
ior BJP leader, “The
meeting was restricted
to the Rajya Sabha elec-
tions for the seats from
Maharashtra that fall
vacant come July 04.
Even the BMC (Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation) and other
municipal elections
that have been deferred
to beyond the mon-
soons in Maharashtra
did not figure in
(Thursday’s) discus-
sions with Amit Shah.”
The meeting as-
sumes significance in
the wake of Maharash-
tra Chief Minister Ud-
dhav Thackeray’s as-
sertion that his party
would try to occupy
two Rajya Sabha seats.
Shiv Sena MP, Sanjay
Raut, who is seeking a
fresh Rajya Sabha ten-
ure, also indulged in
dinner diplomacy with
MP Navneet Rana and
her MLA husband Ravi
Rana on Wednesday be-
fore spending most of
Thursday afternoon in
Ladakh, again during a
parliamentary visit
with Ravi Rana and his
MP wife.
Even the BJP has
said while it can com-
fortably send three
members from Maha-
rashtra to the Rajya
Sabha, it was keen to
leverage its additional
votes in the state to
wrest a fourth seat in
the upper house of Par-
liament.
It is also reliably
learnt that Fadnavis
was asked to submit
four names for the
BJP party high com-
mand’s top two--Nar-
endra Modi and Amit
Shah—to consider for
the forthcoming Ra-
jya Sabha elections.
Both the BJP leaders
are keeping their
cards close to their
chest in respect of the
voting scheduled for
June 10.
This comes in the
wake of the independ-
ent candidature of
Sambhajiraje Chhatra-
pati. A presiden-
tial nominee to
the RS by the
BJP in 2016, he
had initially
been promised
some votes by
NCP Chief
Sharad Pa-
war, which
had upset the
Shiv Sena that
insisted that he
should con-
test on an
MVA nomi-
nation.
BJP Seeks four seats from Maharashtra, Sena wants two
SHAH MEETS FADNAVIS OVER RAJYA SABHA ELECTIONS
Niket Kaushik
Amit Shah Devendra Fadnavis
MUMBAI l FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 14
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, LUCKNOW, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim bail to jailed Samajwadi
Party leader Azam Khan. A bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao
invoked its special power under Article 142 of the constitution to grant
relief to Khan in view of the peculiar facts of the case.
SC INVOKES
SPECIAL POWERS
TO GRANT BAIL TO
AZAM KHAN
The Delhi high court on Thursday set aside the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi
government’s doorstep delivery of ration scheme — Mukhymantri Ghar Ghar
Ration Yojna — stating that the Centre’s grain cannot be used for this scheme.
HC allowed two petitions filed by ration dealers challenging the scheme. P6
DELHI HC STRIKES
DOWN AAP GOVT’S
DOORSTEP RATION
DELIVERY SCHEME
SC DISMISSES MISTRY’S
REVIEW PLEA AGAINST
TATA GROUP ORDER
INDIA’S NIKHAT ZAREEN
WINS GOLD AT WOMEN’S
WORLD BOXING C’SHIP
The Supreme Court dismissed
on Thursday a petition filed by
Shapoorji Pallonji Group against
its March 26, 2021, ruling that ap-
proved the decision of Tata Sons to
remove Cyrus Mistry as group chief.
India’s Nikhat Zareen won the gold
medal in the 52kg category at the
Women’s World Championship
with a win over Thailand’s Jitpong
Jutamas in the fly-weight final in
Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday.
ANOTHERMOSQUEGOES
UNDERTHEGAVEL
Krishna Janmabhoomi case: Mathura court allows
plea seeking ownership of Shahi Idgah Mosque land
Sidhugetsone-yearjailin
34-year-oldroadragecase
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court has
awarded cricketer-
turned-politician Nav-
jot Singh Sidhu one-
year jail in a 1988 road
rage case. The Su-
preme Court had ear-
lier allowed the review
of its May 2018 order
exonerating former
Punjab Congress Pres-
ident Navjot Singh
Sidhu in the 34-year-
old road rage case, in
which Patiala resident
Gurnam Singh had
died.
Sidhu will be taken
into custody by Punjab
police as per the order.
Sidhu was earlier let
off with a fine of Rs
1,000. Now, the maxi-
mum possible punish-
ment under Section
323 of the IPC has been
awarded to Sidhu.
On May 15, 2018, the
apex court set aside
the Punjab and Hary-
ana High Court order
convicting Sidhu of
culpable homicide and
awarding him a three-
year jail term in the
case but had held him
guilty of causing hurt
to a senior citizen.
Mathura: The district
court in Mathura on
Thursday allowed a plea
by the Shri Krishna Jan-
mabhoomi Trust and
other private parties
seeking ownership of
the land in which the
Shahi Idgah Mosque is
built. The Idgah is next
to the Sri Krishna Jan-
mabhoomi Sthal, where
the deity Krishna is be-
lievedtohavebeenborn.
The ruling by judge
Rajiv Bharti allowing
the plea means that the
civil suit will now be
heard by a lower court.
The court will now ex-
amine revenue records
amongotheraspectslike
1968 pact between tem-
ple, and mosque panel.
Congress leader Novjot Singh Sidhu dodges media while leaving
the residence of ex-MLA Lal Singh after meeting in Patiala.
Advocate Ranjana Agnihotri along with six others had first filed
a claim in the case in the court of a civil judge last year.
The dispute
essentially involves
ownership of 13.37
acres of land which
the petitioners
claim belongs to
the deity Lord Shri
Krishna Virajman
Sunil Jakhar joins BJP,
slams Congress ‘gang’
SC halts Varanasi district
court’s Gyanvapi Mosque
proceedings till today
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Thurs-
day directed the civil
court in Varanasi civil
courttonotproceedwith
the case related to the
Gyanvapi mosque case
tillittakesupthecaseon
Friday at 3 pm.
A bench of Justices
DYChandrachud,Surya
Kant and PS Narasimha
adjourned the case after
the Hindu side’s lawyer
asked it to hear the case
on Friday
. It then asked
the Varanasi trial court
to desist from taking up
the matter on Thursday
.
Advocate Vishnu
ShankarJain,appearing
for Hindu petitioners be-
fore the trial court,
sought adjournment for
thedayonaccountof the
medical condition of
leading counsel Hari
Shankar Jain.
New Delhi: Sunil
Jakhar, senior Con-
gress leader and for-
merchief of itsPunjab
unit, has joined rival
BJPdaysafterquitting
the grand old party
.
The former Con-
gress leader quit Con-
gress weeks after he
was issued a show-
cause notice by the
Congress leadership
over his criticism of
formerChief Minister
CharanjitSinghChan-
ni. Congress’s coterie
has now turned into a
gang, he said while ad-
dressing the media
with BJP chief JP Na-
dda by his side.
Sources close to
Jakharsaidthathemay
be nominated for the
RajyaSabhaandwould
begivensomeresponsi-
bilityinPunjab.
Meanwhile, Punjab
ex-CMAmarinderSin-
gh applauded Jakhar
for his move.
SURVEY REPORT IN
SEALED ENVELOPES,
BUT OUT IN OPEN
ASI SHUTS AURANGZEB’S TOMB IN
AURANGABAD AFTER MNS COMMENTS
The report of the filming
of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi
Mosque was submitted in
court in sealed envelops
on Thursday. But it seems
a copy of the report, was
shared by the lawyers of the
petitioners hours later and it
appears to back their claims
of the presence of Hindu
idols and symbols inside the
Gyanvapi mosque. The report
shared by the petitioners says
symbols of a “Trishul” or
trident, lotus engravings and
ancient Hindi carvings have
been found in the survey.
Aurangabad: The Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) Thursday shut Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s
tomb in the Aurangabad district
of Maharashtra for five days after
a mosque committee in the area
tried to lock the place Wednesday,
officials said. On Tuesday, the Ma-
harashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)
spokesperson Gajanan Kale had in
a tweet questioned the need for the monument’s
existence in the state and said it should be de-
stroyed. Kale’s comment came after AIMIM leader
Akbaruddin Owaisi’s visit to the tomb earlier this
month was criticised by the ruling Shiv Sena as
well as by the BJP and Raj Thackeray-led MNS.
The SC reviewed its
earlier verdict to pass
the sentence after the
victim’s family had
re-approached court
Sources close to Jakhar said that he may be
nominated for the Rajya Sabha and would be
given some responsibility in Punjab and also
would be instrumental in bringing more dis-
gruntled Congress leaders into the BJP fold.
BJP chief JP Nadda
welcomes Sunil Jakhar.

NEWS
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Predicting
the results of the up-
coming polls to six
Rajya Sabha seats in
the state, Deputy
Chief Minister Ajit
Pawar on Thursday
said the ruling Shiv
Sena, Nationalist
Congress Party
(NCP), and Congress
can easily win one
seat each, while the
BJP could bag two
seats comfortably.
The polls are sched-
uled for June 10.
Talking to the media
Pawar said, “NCP presi-
dent Sharad Pawar and
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray met recently
and they may have dis-
cussed polls.”
He said, “There are
six seats. If you think
of quota, the BJP can
easily win two seats and
it will have some sur-
plus votes.” “The Shiv
Sena can get one seat.
But, it has substantial
surplus votes. The NCP
can easily bag one seat
and has some surplus
votes. The Congress can
win a seat and have a
one-three votes surplus,
depending upon quota,”
he added.
Shiv Sena has al-
ready said it is seeking
to get two of its candi-
dates elected to the Ra-
jya Sabha (Upper House
of Parliament).
The state Congress
on Wednesday said the
decision on how many
seats will be contested
by each of the three rul-
ing parties will be taken
after deliberations
among the alliance
leaders.
The tenure of six Ra-
jya Sabha members
from Maharashtra—Pi-
yush Goyal, Vinay Sa-
hastrabuddhe, and Vi-
kas Mahatme (all three
from the BJP), P Chid-
ambaram (Congress),
Praful Patel (NCP), and
Sanjay Raut (Shiv
Sena)-ends on July 04.
All four parties are
yet to announce their
candidates.
The 288-member Ma-
harashtra Legislative
Assembly constitutes
the electoral college
and a candidate needs
42 votes to win a seat.
The BJP currently
has 106 MLAs in the
state, Shiv Sena-55,
NCP-53, Congress-44,
Bahujan Vikas Agha-
di-3, Samajwadi Party,
AIMIM, and Prahar
Janshakti Party-2 each,
MNS, CPM, Peasants
and Workers Party,
Rashtriya Samaj Pak-
sha, Swabhimani Party,
Jansurajya Shakti and
Krantikari Shetkari
Party-1 each. There are
13 independent legisla-
tors, while one seat is
lying vacant.
‘Shiv Sena, NCP, Cong can win 1 seat each, BJP 2’
Tenure of 6 Rajya Sabha members from Maha—of which 3 are from BJP, 1 each from Cong, NCP Shiv Sena—ends on July 04
MaharashtrawillbeenragedifRaj
Thackerayisharmed,sayshoarding
First India Bureau
Mumbai: As the date
for Raj Thackeray’s
proposed visit to Ayo-
dhya nears, the row
between the ruling
MNS and sections of
the main opposition,
the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) continues
to heat up.
On Thursday, Maha-
rashtra Navnirman
Sena functionary San-
tosh Nalwade in Lal-
baug area put up hoard-
ing in Mumbai’s south-
central area of Lalbaug
warning of strong re-
percussions if any
harm befalls the MNS
supremo.
“All of Maharashtra
will rise up in rage if
even a strand of Raj
Thackeray’s hair is
harmed,” read the
hoarding, which fea-
tures photographs of
Thackeray, his son
Amit and MNS leader
Bala Nandgaonkar.
Thackeray plans to
visit Ayodhya on June
05, but BJP MP from Ut-
tar Pradesh Brij Bhush-
an Sharan Singh re-
cently demanded that
the MNS chief first
apologize for “humili-
ating” north Indians in
the past before visiting
the city
.
Thackeray had also
issued an “ultimatum”
to the Maharashtra
government in April
this year to remove
loudspeakers from
mosques in the state.
The MNS chief ’s de-
mand about mosque
loudspeakers—- sup-
ported by the main op-
position BJP—as well
as his scheduled visit to
Ayodhya are being seen
as an attempt to corner
the ruling Shiv Sena
which professes to be
pro-Hindutva.
Poster put up in
Mumbai’s
Lalbaug area
follows protests
against MNS
chief’s proposed
visit to Ayodhya
The poster was commissioned by MNS leader Santosh Nalwade. —PHOTO BY ANI
Maha ministers review
progress on Indu Mill
memorial to Ambedkar
First India Bureau
Mumbai: State min-
isters Dhananjay
Munde and Varsha
Gaikwad on Thurs-
day visited Ghazi-
abad in Uttar
Pradesh to review
the work on a 25-
foot replica of the
350-foot statue of
Dalit icon Dr BR
Ambedkar to be in-
stalled at his memo-
rial in the city.
The two ministers,
along with Urban De-
velopment Minister
Eknath Shinde are
part of the state cabi-
net sub-committee
formed to suggest
changes to the repli-
ca. “We have made a
few suggestions on
the replica. The work
on the 350-foot statue
of Babasaheb will be-
gin once the approval
is given to the 25-foot
replica,” Social Jus-
tice Minister Munde
said, after the inspec-
tion at the Ghaziabad
studio of sculptor
Ram Sutar.
“The Maha Vikas
Aghadi (MVA) is
striving to complete
the work on the me-
morial of Dr Ambed-
kar who gave the op-
portunity to people
from all castes and
religions to live re-
spectably. T
The state govern-
ment wants to dedi-
cate the memorial to
the people in 2024,
Munde said in a video
statement, adding
that the state intends
to dedicate it at Indu
Mill Compound in
Dadar area of the city
of Mumbai.
Notably, the next
Lok Sabha polls will
be held in 2024.
He further said that
agoodportionamount
of the civil structure
work of the memorial
at Indu Mill Com-
pound has been com-
pleted and that 75% of
the 100-foot pedestal
for the statue is done.
The MMRDA is carry-
ing out the work for
the memorial, which
is expected to cost the
state Rs1,100 crore.
The Maharashtra government had decided to
increase the height of the proposed statue
from 250 feet to 350 feet in January 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the
foundation stone for the memorial in Octo-
ber 2015.
TALL ORDER
Thane (PTI): Police
registered a case of
disproportionate as-
sets (DA) against for-
mer Maharashtra
BJP MLA Narendra
Mehta and his wife in
Thane on Thursday,
said the Anti-Corrup-
tion Bureau (ACB).
The ACB alleged Me-
hta earned more than
Rs8.25 crore over nine
years when he was a
public representative
and this amount was
over and above his
known sources of in-
come.
The case was lodged
on the basis of a com-
plaint submitted by the
Thane unit of the ACB
against the couple, the
anti-graft agency said
in a release.
Superintendent of
Police (ACB), Thane
Range, Dr Panjabrao
Ugale stated that an of-
fence under relevant
sections of the Preven-
tion of Corruption Act
and Section 109 of the
IPC (abetment of an of-
fence) was registered
against Mehta and his
wife at the Navghar po-
lice station.
The release said dur-
ing his tenure as a cor-
porator of the Mira
Bhayandar Municipal
Corporation (MBMC)
and an MLA between
January 2006 and Au-
gust 2015, Mehta had
earned income of
Rs8,25,51,773 and “mis-
used” his position as a
public servant.
“This was over and
above his known sourc-
es of income as a public
servant,” the ACB
claimed.
The former legisla-
tor’s wife helped him in
“usage of the excess in-
come”, the release said.
Mehta earlier repre-
sented the Mira Bhay-
andar constituency in
the state assembly
.
Excess assets case filed against former BJP MLA, wife
IN HOT WATER
MISUSE OF POWER?
A minature version of the memorial at Indu Mill Compound, which is expected to be
dedicated to citizens in the year 2024. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Maha-
rashtra school educa-
tion department has
begun the process of
Sanch-Manyata (cal-
culating student-
teacher ratio) in the
middle of schools’
summer vacation.
Schools across the
state have been asked to
submit students’ enroll-
ment details. As the
said process assures
continued approval to
schools and any drop in
enrollment figures may
hamper that while
schools are demanding
extension in the dead-
line.
The process, which
includes updating stu-
dents’ enrolment data
on the Systematic Ad-
ministrative Reforms
for Achievement of
Learning by Students
(SARAL) portal, re-
quires detailed infor-
mation about each stu-
dent from their name,
class to Aadhaar num-
ber, caste, and category
he/she belongs to,
among other informa-
tion. Even as all other
details are generally
filled by schools, the
process of filling Aad-
haar and caste details
was delayed by many
schools due to school
closure amid the COV-
ID-19 pandemic.
Now when schools
were hoping to com-
plete this as the new
academic year begins
in June, the order to
complete the task in
just two days during
summer vacation has
shocked many
.
“Even as schools
started offline opera-
tions two months before
the previous academic
year concluded in April,
many continued to stay
away due to migration.
Only when schools start
in June after summer
break there will be
some clarity on stu-
dents’ enrollment,” said
a school principal.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A day af-
ter the Supreme
Court granted her
bail, a special CBI
court in Mumbai on
Thursday said Ind-
rani Mukerjea can
walk out on bail af-
ter furnishing a
bond of Rs2 lakh as
it finalized her bail
conditions.
Mukherjea (50) has
spent six-and-a-half
years in jail after she
was arrested in 2015
on charges of killing
her daughter Sheena
Bora (24) in April
2012. The high-profile
case was taken over
by the CBI subse-
quently
.
The CBI court said
the former media ex-
ecutive can be re-
leased from the By-
culla women’s prison
in Mumbai upon fur-
nishing a cash bail
bond of Rs2 lakh and
asolventsuretyof the
same amount.
The special court
also directed Muker-
jea not to tamper
with evidence while
out on bail.
A bench compris-
ing three judges of
the SC granted bail to
Indrani on Wednes-
day, saying she had
already spent six-and-
a-half years in jail
and the trial was not
likely to be completed
any time soon.
It directed the spe-
cial CBI court to final-
ize Mukerjea’s bail
conditions.
The CBI court
granted her two
weeks to furnish the
solvent surety and di-
rected her to “scrupu-
lously observe” the
bail conditions.
CBI court sets
Indrani’s bail at
bond of `2 lakh
Mukherjea (50) has
spent six-and-a-half
years in jail after
she was arrested in
2015 on charges of
killing her daughter
Sheena Bora (24)
in April 2012. The
high-profile case was
taken over by the CBI
subsequently.
THE CASE
Schools across state to submit
students’ enrolment details
There are
six seats.
If you
think of quota, the
BJP can easily
win two seats and
it will have some
surplus votes. The
Shiv Sena can get
one seat. But, it
has substantial
surplus votes.
Ajit Pawar,
Maharashtra Deputy Chief
Minister
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar
The ACB alleged Mehta earned more than Rs8.25
crore over nine years when he was a public repre-
sentative and this amount was over and above his
known sources of income. The case was lodged
on the basis of a complaint submitted by ACB’s
Thane unit against the couple. Under relevant
sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and
Sec 109 of the IPC an offence was registered
against them.

MAHARASHTRA
03
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A day after
conducting an on-
ground review of
pre-monsoon works
in various areas of
the city, Maharashtra
minister Aaditya
Thackeray on Thurs-
day said that if
the city was lashed
with monsoon show-
ers of over 200mm
in a day, any city, not
just Mumbai, would
see flash floods.
During a prepared-
ness visit to the Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) on
Thursday, Thackeray
told reporters, “Na-
ture’s fury cannot be
stopped by anyone.
And that is why we
have placed dewatering
pumps at various
sites, kept pumping
stations on stand-by,
set up trash boom
barriers and also
implemented other
mitigation measures.
And yet, despite all
this, if an extreme
weather event such
as a cloud burst takes
place, then no one can
do anything.”
He also added that
while the BMC has
so far managed to
control 90% of the
flooding spots that
arose last year during
monsoon, few are yet to
be addressed.
“The summer and
winter seasons have
been extreme this year,
and it is likely that the
monsoon will also be
extreme. However, we
are prepared to tackle
anything and have even
planned our response
to it. We want to ensure
that the impact of
any extreme weather
event is the least and
there is minimum loss
to life and damage
to property,” said the
minister.
Sharing an update
about the ongoing de-
silting projects, Thack-
eray informed, “While
the BMC has completed
78% of culvert cleaning
works, if one does not
function tomorrow,
workers will find float-
ing debris because
someone or another is
putting garbage into it
every day
.”
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A 30-year-old
auto-rickshaw driver
was killed and a wom-
an passenger travel-
ling in the vehicle was
injured after a heavy
vehicle hit the three-
wheeler in Bandra
(West) on Tuesday
.
The incident took
place around 10.15 pm in
the Bandra Reclamation
tunnel towards the sea
link.Whenapoliceteam
reached the spot, they
sawtheautorickshawon
the footpath badly dam-
aged. They spotted the
driver lying on the road
leading to Lilavati Hos-
pital. His head was
found four
feet away
f r o m
h i s
body
, the police said.
The police learned
that a heavy vehicle hit
the autorickshaw and
fled from the spot. The
injured woman took an-
other autorickshaw and
left the spot.
The police found an
identity card from the
deceased and he was
identifiedasPapukumar
Saav. An FIR has been
registered by a police of-
ficerattheBandrapolice
station against the un-
known vehicle under
Sections279and304Aof
the IPC and 134 A and B
of the Motor Vehicles
Act for causing death
due to rash and negli-
gent driving and escap-
ing from the spot.
Auto driver killed, 1 injured in
hit-and-run case in Bandra
READ
crucial
crucial
MSEDCL RESTORES POWER
SUPPLY IN MANY PARTS OF NASHIK
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
TWO SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM NAGPUR
WIN OXFORD’S GLOBAL READ CONTEST
BCCI TO ALLOW FULL CAPACITY IN
STADIUMS FOR INDIA-SA T20I SERIES
MURDER ACCUSED FROM BIHAR NABBED BY
MUMBAI POLICE; GRANTED TRANSIT REMAND
New Delhi: Two school students from Nagpur
have been named winners of the Oxford Big Read
Global Competition 2021. Kavya Raj Agarwal
from Centre Point School in Nagpur’s Wardha-
man Nagar and Tanisha Gupta of the same school
in Amravati Road Bypass were among the 149
students who took part from India. In the 2021
contest, participants at the global level were from
India, Pakistan, South-east Asia, Hong Kong and
mainland China, Vietnam and Turkey.
Mumbai: The BCCI has allowed full capacity in
stadiums for the five-match T20 international
series between India and South Africa, which
begins on June 9. According to highly placed
BCCI sources, the board “plans to allow full ca-
pacity in stadiums for the India-South Africa T20
international series”. The five-match series will
see the two nations face off at New Delhi, Cut-
tack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Bengaluru from
June 9-19. The BCCI had already announced full
capacity crowd for the IPL play-offs to be held in
Kolkata and Ahmedabad later this month.
Mumbai: Police have arrested Pritkumar Singh, 32,
who was wanted in connection with the murder of
a family member in Bihar, an official said on Thurs-
day. Based on a tip-off, the Mumbai Crime Branch
conducted searches and apprehended the accused,
who also allegedly injured three others with a sharp
weapon over a dispute in Dhanauli, on Tuesday. Singh
had gone missing after committing the crime. Fol-
lowing his arrest, he was taken to court and granted
transit remand. He was handed over to Bihar police.
Nashik: Residents of Bhadrakali, Panchavati,
and Nehru Chowk areas heaved a sigh of relief on
Wednesday after the MSEDCL restored power sup-
ply. The said areas had intermittent power supply
for the past two days — Monday and Tuesday.
The unannounced power outages lasted from 15
minutes to more than two hours, frustrating both
residential and commercial customers. MSEDCL
executive engineer DK Aher said, “Our team visited
the affected areas from where complaints were
raised and the issues have now been resolved.”
While the monsoons are still a few days away, Mumbai is already witnessing gathering clouds. —PHOTO BY PTI
While BMC has managed to control 90% of the flooding spots that arose last year,a few are yet to be addressed
WE ARE PREPARED FOR MONSOON
THIS YEAR: AADITYA THACKERAY
BMC to install gauges
to find flood points
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC)
plans to install
around 100 flood
gauges with sensors
at chronic spots
this monsoon to
determine exactly
where the city
stands in terms of
waterlogging.
These flood gauges
will be correlated to
rainfall data from au-
tomatic weather sta-
tions, providing a
more accurate pic-
ture of rain and
floodwater.
Additional Munici-
pal Commissioner P
Velrasusaid,“Wewill
install flood gauges at
100locationsthisyear
on a pilot basis. They
will transmit the cur-
rent water level in
real time. We also re-
quested that they be
linked to rainfall data
inthatlocationsothat
we can better under-
stand the problem.”
Currently, there is
no mechanism to un-
derstand the level of
water at specific loca-
tions, so the civic
body is developing a
plan to obtain real-
time data on depth of
floodwater.
“The information
gathered by sensors
and automatic
weather stations will
be used to generate
location-specific dy-
namic alerts. It will
also generate long-
term data for specific
areas, allowing the
civic body to take the
necessary steps to re-
duce flood levels in
the future,” said a
BMC official.
NASHIK COLLECTOR ISSUES MONSOON ALERT TO GOVT DEPTS
Nashik: District Col-
lector Gangatharan D
has urged government
departments to be pre-
pared for the monsoon
by developing a micro-
level disaster manage-
ment plan. The collector
met with the heads of
various departments
to assess their prepar-
edness. The meeting
was attended by SP
Sachin Patil, Additional
Collector Dattaprasad
Nade, Additional Collec-
tor of Malegaon Maya
Patole, and others. The
collector also directed
the SDMs, tehsildars,
and others to inspect
the vulnerable locations
that may require atten-
tion during the mon-
soon season. According
to Gangatharan, disas-
ter management should
be delegated to teams
of group development
officers, circle offic-
ers, talathis, gramme
sevaks, and others. He
said the water resourc-
es department should
ensure that discharge
from dams takes place
only after 8 am and in-
formation is passed on
to people residing along
the riverbanks on time.
Moreover, arrange-
ments of life jackets,
rubber boats, 100m
ropes, megaphones,
etc. should be done well
ahead of time. All nul-
lahs need to be cleaned,
old wadas should be
repaired and adequate
manpower should be
available at hospitals in
rural areas.
LENDING
A HAND
Thackeray also an-
nounced release of
`62 crore in funds
for 29 victims of two
landslide disasters at
Vikhroli and Mahul
last year. “These funds
have been rolled out
for MLAs, irrespective
of the party they repre-
sent, for construction
of retaining walls,”
he said, adding that
bringing those living
in informal homes into
formal housing was
the future. “We are
working on creating
30,000 houses for
PAPs in the coming
years,” he said.
NDRF team rescue people following flash floods due to
heavy rainfall in 2019. —FILE PHOTO
The civic body will
install flood gauges
and correlate them
with rainfall data for
dynamic alerts in
order to address the
flooding issue
Mumbai (PTI): Having
gone off the boil in the
last few games, Jos
Buttler will be eagerly
waiting to pounce on
an inexperienced
Chennai Super Kings
(CSK) attack in order
to clinch a play-off
berth for the Ra-
jasthan Royals (RR) in
the ongoing Indian
Premier League (IPL)
on Friday
.
A win will take Sanju
Samson’s men to 18
points and help them
steer clear of any per-
mutations or combina-
tions for a top-four fin-
ish.Infact,itwillensure
a top-two finish for Roy-
als as they will then en-
joy a superior Net Run
Rate (NRR) of +0.304
compared to Lucknow
Super Giants’ +0.251.
In this backdrop, RR
would like to turn the
heat on a lacklustre
CSK, who can turn out
to be ‘party poopers’ in
their final game.
To prevent that, But-
tler, who is currently
leading the batters’
chart with 627 runs, will
need to do better than
register scores of 22, 30,
7, 2 - his contribution in
the last four games.
TheRoyals’successin
the tournament has got
a lot to do with brilliant
starts from Buttler, who
has three hundreds and
as many fifties, most of
his runs were scored
during the first half of
the tournament, and
Yuzvendra Chahal’s 24
wickets. While Chahal
has maintained his con-
sistency, in the case of
Buttler there has been a
slight dip in form but
the last league game is
an ideal time to up the
ante before the play-offs.
Most of CSK’s senior
players like MS Dhoni
(206), Ambati Rayudu
(271) and Robin Uthap-
pa (230) have not had a
great IPL so far.
Royals seek another Buttler show to clinch play-off spot
A ‘ROYAL’ CHALLENGE
ANOTHER PRICE RISE
A worker transports LPG gas cylinders on a tricycle cart, in Mumbai on Thursday. Oil
marketing companies hiked the price of 14 kg domestic LPG cylinder by `3.50 with
immediate effect on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Jos Buttler in action during an IPL match. —FILE PHOTO
THE ENGLISH BATSMAN WILL NEED TO STEP IT UP
AGAINST CSK TODAY AND GET RUNS ON THE BOARD
LACKLUSTRE PERFORMANCE

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 14
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: Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
I have become Death, the
destroyer of worlds.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Dr Jitendra Singh
@DrJitendraSingh
Special Stamp and Envelope, prepared
by the Indian Postal Department,
released to mark the 75th year Platinum
Jubilee of the iconic Central Leather
Research Institute (CLRI) #Chennai.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya
@mansukhmandviya
More than 8,700 Janaushadhi stores
across the country are providing best
quality medicines at affordable prices
to the common man. The government
of Prime Minister @NarendraModi
ji aims at the welfare of the person
standing in the last row and that work
is going on continuously with the
Janaushadhi project.
TOP TWEETS
NEMESIS
CATCHES UP
WITH NAVJOT
SIDHU AFTER
THREE DECADES
emesis, it is said,
limps sternly
, if slow-
ly, behind and over-
takes in the end. That
is precisely what has
happened with cricketer-turned-
politician Navjot Singh Sidhu.
The former TV show host has
been sentenced to one-year’s rig-
orous imprisonment in a three-
decade-old case of road rage in
which the Punjab Congress lead-
er and his associate killed a man,
Gurnam Singh, in a brawl over
a parking spot in Patiala. He was
exonerated by a session court in
Patiala in 1999. But the verdict
was overturned by the Punjab
and Haryana High Court which
sentenced Sidhu to three years
in jail for culpable homicide.
In 2018 the Supreme Court set
aside the sentence for lack of evi-
dence. The victim’s family plead-
edforreviewof thatorder.That’s
how Nemesis caught up with the
swashbuckling cricketer who re-
cently lost the Punjab assembly
elections. The blow may also sof-
ten up the former president of
the Punjab Congress who lacks
the self-effacing quality one ex-
pects of an achiever.
N
ven as the Su-
preme Court is
seized of two con-
tentious issues---
the Gyanvapi
mosque and the validity of
the Places of Worship Act of
1991---stage is set for the Hin-
dus’ claim over Krishna Jan-
mabhoomi to also reach the
apex court for adjudication.
In that respect the order of
the Mathura district judge
Rajeev Bharti upholding the
suit to remove Mathura’s
Shahi Idgah Masjid will set
off yet another round of con-
troversy. In the suit Hindus
have staked claim over 13.37
acres of land on which the
Mathura mosque is built. It
reminds one of Ayodhya
land dispute which the Su-
preme Court ruled in favour
of Hindus.
Hindus are obviously gung-
ho about their claims just as
Muslims are feeling more and
more pushed to the corner.
The manner in which the
Gyanvapimosque’srecording
that was meant only for view-
ing by the court was made
public casts doubts in the
minds of the minority com-
munity about fair play
. A Su-
preme Court bench of Justice
DY Chandrachud and Justice
PS Narasimha restrained the
trial court in Varanasi from
proceeding in the case.
The order may be of some
relief but it does not drive
away the fear in the minds
of minorities. Mentally the
Muslims may have lost
Gyanvapi and also Mathura
but their bigger fear is about
what will be targeted next---
Qutub Minar or the Taj Ma-
hal? Their fears are centred
round the fate of the 1991
Act. Removal of the Act’s
protection would allow the
takeover of 36,000 mosques
or mausoleums which, alleg-
edly, were built over temples.
TROUBLE AHEAD: 1991 ACT HOLDS THE KEY
The order may be of some relief but it does not drive
away the fear in the minds of minorities. Mentally
the Muslims may have lost Gyanvapi and
also Mathura but their bigger fear is about
what will be targeted next--- Qutub Minar or
the Taj Mahal? Their fears are centred round the
fate of the 1991 Act. Removal of the Act’s
protection would allow the takeover of 36,000
mosques or mausoleums which, allegedly,
were built over temples
E
THE BLOODBATH IN
THE CRYPTO MARKETS
he world of crypto is no
stranger to volatility. The
global crypto markets wit-
nessed a brutal bloodbath
last week, losing almost USD
500 billion. Bitcoin which is
the poster boy of crypto mar-
kets had dropped below USD
30,000 for the first time since
July 2021, almost 50% down
from its peak last November.
Smaller coins like Ether, Ava-
lanche, and Solana have fall-
en too, but to everyone’s sur-
prise, it was the Non-Fungi-
ble Tokens (NFTs) that took
the biggest hit, the Bored Ape
Yacht Club (BAYC) and many
other such NFT collections
saw their price plummeting
29 percent over the past 7
days in dollar terms. The
JPG NFT Index, which tracks
NFTs, tumbled by about 26
percent in the last week.
WHAT WAS THE REASON
FOR THE CRASH?
Cryptocurrencies had been
launched with much fanfare
and had seen the fastest
growth among all asset class-
es in terms of attracting
funds. They are however ex-
periencing a massive sell-off
faster than the run-up seen
last year. Trading volumes in
this asset class are also slow-
ing down as evident from dis-
appointing Coinbase’s recent
quarterly results which were
below market expectation on
account of a nearly 20 per-
cent drop in trading volumes. 
Nasdaq has fallen by about
25 percent in 2022. Initially,
the fall in crypto assets was
brushed aside as one that is
caused due to overall volatile
financial markets. However,
the crash is much more than
and there seems to be a crisis
building up.
WHY ARE STABLECOINS
PERCEIVED AS STABLE?
Stablecoins do not depend on
market factors to ascertain
their value. They are instead
derived by pegging them-
selves to the value of a cur-
rency like a dollar, or any
commodity
. This makes them
less prone to the wild price
swings that typically charac-
terize the crypto markets.
Stablecoins are of three
main types:

z Fiat-backed: These coins are
backed by a national cur-
rency, that matches the fiat
currency in reserve to the
number of coins in circulation

z Cryptocurrency-backed:
these are coins backed by
another cryptocurrency (e.g.,
BTC, ETH), this keeps the
cryptocurrency in reserve
higher than the coins in
circulation to account for the
crypto’s volatility

z Algorithm-backed: these are
coins that use an algorithm or
“smart contract” to peg the
stablecoin to another crypto
token that helps ensure the
stablecoin remains stable.
BUT WHAT MADE
THEM SO UNSTABLE?
Last week’s crash was led by
the fall in the prices of Sta-
blecoins, Terra, and LUNA.
TerraUSD is an algorithmic
stablecoin that uses algo-
rithms to maintain its stable
value. TerraUSD does not
have any physical reserves of
dollars as collateral but in-
stead depends on the crypto-
currency LUNA to stabilize
its market price. TerraUSD
and Luna have a 1:1 peg. This
means that for every 1 Ter-
raUSD sold, one LUNA coin
is minted and for every 1 Ter-
raUSD purchased, one LUNA
is burnt or destroyed from
the ecosystem.
This equilibrium broke
last week due to de-pegging
when digital coin Luna lost
almost 100% of its value and
the Terra blockchain was
suspended twice after its al-
gorithm failed to rebalance.
From its peak at USD 119,
Luna is now valued near zero
while the TerraUSD trades at
20 cents. Together these two
have knocked off about USD
300 billion from the market
cap of cryptocurrency
.
WILL THE 2008
CRISIS REPEAT?
Just as in 2008 certain struc-
tured credit products consist-
ing of subprime mortgages
were integrated into the fi-
nancial systems to such an
extent that when they col-
lapsed, they triggered a fi-
nancial crisis where the mar-
kets went into recession and
millions of people lost their
jobs and homes, the crypto
assets if integrated, will have
the same capacity
.
Stablecoins currently has a
total market cap of around
USD 170 billion, while the to-
tal crypto market is estimated
to be around USD 1.2 trillion.
Even though stable coins are
too small currently to affect
the economy at large, crypto-
currencies have started work-
ing their way into the finan-
cial systems, it is now found
in the portfolio of many tradi-
tional investors as well.
SHOULD YOU
BUY THE DIP?
About 20 million Indians
have invested in cryptocur-
rency in India with multiple
startups and crypto wallets
coming up to cash in on the
opportunity of unregulated
gains. The Indian crypto ex-
changes are now in a tough
spot after the delisting of the
Luna on platforms like Coin-
DCX and WazirX.
India in its budget this year
saidthatitwillbeintroducing
its very own cryptocurrency
and had introduced a 30 per-
cent flat tax on all gains from
virtual digital assets includ-
ing crypto and the upcoming
1percentTDS(taxdeductedat
source) for all transactions.
The Indian government is
also mulling imposing a GST
on all crypto transactions at
28 percent, the highest tax
bracket putting them at par
with gambling and betting.
CRYPTO CARNAGE
SHOULD YOU BUY THE DIP?
T
Cryptocurrencies as an
asset class are highly
prone to volatile prices.
However, the main culprit
behind last week’s crash
was not caused by this
inherent volatility but due
to Stablecoins. This came
about as quite a surprise
as Stablecoins, evident
from their name, are
usually considered to be a
more stable and steadier
entity of the otherwise
volatile cryptocurrencies.
LET US UNDERSTAND
THE REAL REASON
BEHIND THIS FREE FALL
IN CRYPTO PRICES

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

05
INDIA
‘RajkeenonbiddingadieutoGehlotgovt’
THERE HAS BEEN HUMILIATION FOR EXPECTATIONS OF PEOPLE: NADDA
Yogesh Sharma
Aishwary Pradhan
Jaipur: After the Con-
gress’s Chintan Shivir,
now the BJP has initi-
ated a bid to come out
with a formula to win
the assembly elections
in Rajasthan slated to
occur later next year.
The meeting of nation-
al office bearers of BJP
is starting in Jaipur for
three days from Thurs-
day
. BJP national presi-
dent JP Nadda reached
Jaipur airport at 5:30
pm.
Nadda, who landed at
Jaipur airport in a
chartered flight, was ac-
corded a grand welcome
as the entire route from
airport to Leela hotel at
Amer, where the three
day event is held,
donned the saffron
garb. A huge crowd of
BJP leaders and work-
ers had amssed at the
airport to wlecome Na-
dda and accompanied,
in several vehicles, to
the hotel. Nadda took
former Chief Minister
Vasundhara Raje along
with Leader of Opposi-
tion Gulabchand Ka-
taria and BJP State
President Satish Poonia
in his car from the air-
port.
Meanwhile, address-
ing the party function-
aries and workers of
Amer constituency on
Delhi road, Nadda at-
tacked the Gehlot gov-
ernment on the pretext
of incidents of violence
in Karauli and else-
where and said, “It has
become clear from the
atmosphere that the
people have made up
their mind to bid adieu
to the Gehlot govern-
ment in the coming
times. People are keen
to form BJP govern-
ment. The people of Ra-
jasthan have been ne-
glected in the Gehlot
government.
There has been hu-
miliation and disdain
for the expectations of
the people. Keeping
that in mind, the people
have made up their
mind to give their
blessings to BJP.”
The national Presi-
dent further said, “The
corruption that has
happened in the gov-
ernment, law and order
is nowhere to be seen.
Creating unrest in the
society from place to
place, incidents in Ka-
rauli and many other
places show that there
is no such thing as ad-
ministration and gov-
ernment.”
JP Nadda waving at the party workers in the presence of Vasundhara Raje, Satish Poonia, Ramlal
Sharma, and others at Amer, Jaipur on Thursday. —PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA
Union Home Minister Shah with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
MANN MEETS
SHAH IN DELHI
...discusses border security, board issues
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Punjab Chief
Minister Bhagwant
Mann on Thursday
met with Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah in Delhi and
discussed several
matters including is-
sues of national secu-
rity and technology
infrastructure to en-
hance border man-
agement services.
“We requested an-
ti-drone technology.
He (Union HM Amit
Shah) said that we
will work together in
regard to national se-
curity. Several other
matters including
the Basmati crop and
Punjab quota issue
in Bhakra Beas Man-
agement Board
(BBMB) were also
discussed,” Punjab
Chief Minister
Mann said.
The Centre had is-
sued a notification in
February this year to
amend the provisions
of BBMS 1974 rule for
the selection criteria
for the appointment
of the two key offic-
ers in the Bhakra
Beas Board from out-
side Punjab.
As per convention,
posts of the two full-
time members - mem-
ber (power) and
member (irrigation)
- have always been
filled by eligible can-
didates of Punjab
and Haryana, respec-
tively, from the panel
of engineers nomi-
nated by respective
state governments.
As many as 10 more
companies of security
forces will be provided
by the Centre.
—Bhagwant Mann,
Punjab CM
New Delhi (Agencies):
Preparing for Assembly
election in Gujarat this
year, the BJP is leaving
no stone unturned to
keep by its side the po-
litically critical
Patidars of the Sau-
rashtra, a region that
proved to be among the
weakest links in 2017.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi will inaugu-
rate the KD Parvadiya
Hospital, the first multi-
specialty hospital in
Jasdan taluka in the Ra-
jkot district on May 28.
“Top” Patidar leaders
are expected to be pre-
sent at the inauguration
of the hospital built by
Patel Seva Samaj, a
charitable trust headed
by formerMLA andBJP
leader Bharat Boghra.
Gujarat BJP presi-
dent CR Paatil said
around three lakh peo-
ple will be present at the
PM’s first visit to the
Saurashtra after the
covid-19 pandemic.
The buzz is that
young Patidar leader
Hardik Patel, who re-
signed from the Con-
gress on Wednesday,
could be one of them,
though, the AAP is also
believed to be pursuing
him and Naresh Patel,
an influential social
worker and chairman
of Shree Khodaldham
Trust, who, too, is yet to
disclose which political
party he will join.
PM MODI TO ATTEND
QUAD SUMMIT IN
TOKYO ON MAY 24
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi will attend the Quad
Summit on May 24 in
Tokyo. This will be the
fourth summit of Quad
leaders. Bilateral meetings
with Japanese PM Fumio
Kishida and US President
Joe Biden will take place
on May 24, MEA Spokes-
person Arindam Bagchi
said on Thursday.
PM Modi to hit home turf on May
28 as BJP woos Patidars in Gujarat
Kashmir University
gets its first woman
Vice Chancellor
Srinagar: Professor
Nilofar Khan of the
Kashmir University’s
Home Sciences Depart-
ment was on Thursday
appointed as its first
woman Vice Chancellor
of Kashmir University
.
A communication is-
sued by the Raj Bhawan
said:“Inexerciseof pow-
ers vested in me under
section12of Jammuand
Kashmir Universities
Act,1969,I,ManojSinha,
Chancellor, University
of Kashmir, hereby ap-
point Professor Nilofar
Khan, Department of
Home Sciences, Univer-
sity of Kashmir, as Vice
Chancellor of the Uni-
versity of Kashmir for a
periodof three(03)years
with effect from the date
she takes over change,
on terms and conditions
to be notified later.”
Professor Nilofar
KhansucceedsProfessor
Talat Ahmad, an earth
scientist, who served as
the Vice Chancellor on
two separate terms.
Nilofar Khan
Race heats up for ‘nominated RS seats’ but no clear answer yet!
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Seven seats
of nominated category
in Rajya Sabha are va-
cant. Subramanian
Swamy, Swapan Das-
gupta, Roopa Ganguly,
Suresh Gopi, Mary
Kom, Narendra Jadhav
and Chhatrapati Samb-
haji have retired. Four
of these MPs had de-
clared themselves mem-
bers of the BJP after
being nominated while
the other three re-
mainedindependents.It
is believed that this
time BJP will nominate
such people in all the
seven seats, who can de-
clare themselves as BJP
members after taking
oath. If this happens,
then there will be 11
BJP MPs among the
nominated category
MPs. Out of the five re-
maining MPs, barring
former Chief Justice
Ranjan Gogoi, the re-
maining four MPs have
declared themselves as
members of the BJP
.
The question is, who
are those seven people,
whom BJP will nomi-
nate in the Upper
House. No one has any
idea of the name, but
looking at the regional
equation of the retired
MPs and the assembly
elections to be held in
the next few days, it is
being speculated as to
from which state the
nominated category
MPs will come. It is al-
most certain that a
Kashmiri Pandit will be
nominated. Anupam
Kher may be nominated
but an obstacle in his
way is that his wife Kir-
ron Kher is the party’s
MP from Chandigarh.
Nevertheless, in view
of the elections to be
held in Kashmir in the
next few days, a nomi-
nation will be made
from there.
Two people are retir-
ing from West Bengal
and at least one nomina-
tionwillbefromthereas
well. Will Swapan Das-
guptaberepeatedagain?
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah had gone to
Sourav Ganguly’s house
to have food during his
Bengal tour and since
then his name is also be-
ing discussed for the Up-
per House. Two people
are retiring from South
India, Swamy from Ta-
mil Nadu and Suresh
Gopi from Kerala. Elec-
tionsareyettobeheldin
Karnataka and Telan-
gana. So, one member
from either of these two
states will be nominated
and at least one member
is likely to move to the
Upper House from Ma-
harashtra.
BJP using
central agencies
to ‘settle political
scores’: Mamata
New Delhi (PTI): West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on
Thursday trained her
guns on the BJP amid
the ongoing row over ir-
regularities in the
School Service Commis-
sion(SSC)appointments
and alleged the ruling
dispensation at the Cen-
treisrunninga“Tughla-
qi regime” in the nation
and using central agen-
cies to “settle political
scores”. “The BJP is
running a ‘Tughlaqi’ re-
gime (referring to 14th-
century Delhi sultan
Muhammad-bin-Tu-
ghlaq who was known to
bewillful)inthecountry
and is trying to divide
the nation,” she said at a
public meeting in Jhar-
gram, media reported.
“It is controlling cen-
tral agencies and using
those to settle political
scores,”Banerjeeadded.
Stating a lot of things
are being said about
“discrepancies in re-
cruitment”, Mamata
said the people are “well
aware of those who are
involved in corruption”.
Mamata Banerjee
Offensive
remark against
Vijayan: KPCC
chief booked
Kochi (Agencies):
The Kerala Police on
Thursday lodged a case
against KPCC presi-
dent K Sudhakaran
over his controversial
remark against Chief
Minister Pinarayi Vi-
jayan.
Recently, while cam-
paigning for his party
ahead of the May 31
bypoll, Sudhakaran
had likened Vijayan to
an “unleashed dog”
running around Thrik-
kakara constituency,
which was strongly ob-
jected to by several top
CPI-M leaders. Re-
sponding to the con-
demnation, Sudha-
karan said though the
phrase is commonly
used in his home dis-
trict Kannur, he has no
qualms in withdraw-
ing his remark if it has
hurt Vijayan, who also
hails from the same
district.
With the crucial
Thrikkakara election
campaign gaining mo-
mentum and Vijayan
himself leading the
campaign by staying
put in Kochi, the local
youth wing of CPI-M
decided to file a com-
plaint with the local
police.
K Sudhakaran
TO MEET THE ENVIRONMENTAL NORMS
‘Leather industry to aim at net-zero carbon footprint’
Chennai (Agencies):
Leather industry in In-
dia will aim at net-zero
carbon footprint to
meet the environmental
norms, Union Minister
Dr Jitendra Singh said
on Thursday
.
Addressing the Plati-
num Jubilee celebra-
tions of CSIR-Central
Leather Research Insti-
tute in Chennai, Dr Ji-
tendra Singh said, the
carbon footprint of
leather processing ac-
tivity needs to approach
zero levels and the bio-
economy of animal
skin-derived products
is the new mantra of
the time. He said, the
carrying capacity re-
quirements of the
leather sector in loca-
tions like Tamil Nadu
demand the implemen-
tation of Zero Liquid
Discharge as the en-
forced environmental
norm, which is under
discussion.
Referring to Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s pitch for new in-
novations and next-gen-
eration technologies, Dr
Jitendra Singh said, the
sustainability of the
leather sector is likely
to emerge as the new
challenge for CSIR-
CLRI in its journey
from the platinum to the
centenary. He said, the
new vision for leather
research and industry
during the next 25 years
may need to be on sus-
tainability
, net-zero car-
bon footprint, gaining
total recyclability of
leather-based materials,
bio-economy of animal
skin-derived products,
and ensuring income
parity for workers, be-
sides brand building.
Dr Jitendra Singh of-
fered attractive finan-
cial support from DST
to Start-ups to come up
with innovative and
market friendly leath-
er products.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, as chief guest, addressing the
Platinum Jubilee celebrations of CSIR-Central Leather Research
Institute, at Chennai on Thursday.

06
INDIA
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): One of the most
significant impacts of
climate change is on
our food system. It af-
fects the way we pro-
duce as well as con-
sume food. The impact
is even more on a pre-
dominantly agrarian
economy like India,
creating ripple effects
on the entire food pro-
duction chain. On Sun-
day, the mercury level
in several states of
north India touched 49
degrees Celcius, mak-
ing it one of the hottest
days in the recent his-
tory. The damage
caused to agriculture
and food security by
the ongoing heatwave
is multi-dimensional. It
damaged wheat crop,
affe
c
ted the food sup-
ply, prompting a phe-
nomenal rise in the
price of wheat prod-
ucts. The loss to wheat
is both qualitative as
well as quantitative as
besides the low output,
the grain is also of poor
quality. It should be
seen in the light of the
fact that food security
is as much about the
quantity of food, as it is
about the nutritional
value. The Global Food
Policy Report 2022 by
the International Food
Policy Research Insti-
tute has warned that
climate change may
push many Indians to-
wards hunger by 2030
due to a decline in agri-
cultural production
and disruption in food
supply chain.
The report states that
globally, around 65 mil-
lion people are at risk
due to climate change-
induced hunger, with 17
million people in India
facing hunger by 2030,
the highest among all
countries.
HowclimatechangeisimpactingIndia’sfoodsecurity
HEATWAVE DAMAGED WHEAT CROP
lll
Although global
food production
may increase
by 60 per cent
by 2050, 50
crores of
Indians would
still be at the
risk of going
hungry
SHUTTERS OF BHOOTHATHANKETTU DAM OPENED IN RAIN-BATTERED STATE
‘ORANGE ALERT’ FOR 12 DISTS
AS HEAVY RAINS LASH KERALA
Thiruvananthapuram
(Agencies): The India
Meteorological De-
partment (IMD) on
Thursday issued an
‘orange’ alert for 12
Kerala districts -
Kasaragod, Kannur,
Wayanad, Kozhikode,
Malappuram, Palak-
kad, Thrissur, Ernaku-
lam, Idukki, Kottayam,
Alappuzha, and
Pathanamthitta. The
weather department
also predicted ‘heavy
to very heavy rainfall’
for the southern state
over the next 48 hours
before a ‘substantial
reduction in rainfall
intensity’ from May 21.
An ‘orange’ alert in-
dicates ‘very heavy
rainfall’ — between six
and 20 cm. A ‘red’ alert
indicates rainfall over
20 cm while ‘yellow’ In-
dicates between six
and 11 cm of rainfall.
The Kerala State Dis-
aster Management Au-
thority said cyclonic
circulation over north-
ern Tamil Nadu and
adjoining areas would
lead to isolated very
heavy rainfall in sev-
eral parts of the state.
Incessant rains have
battered Kerala over
the past few days.
Chief minister in-
arayi Vijayan has is-
sued directions to en-
sure authorities are
prepared to handle
natural disasters that
are likely to follow, in-
cluding landslides and
flooding.
Local bodies have
been directed to pre-
pare a list of disaster-
prone areas in their
respective jurisdic-
tions and alert con-
cerned government
departments.
The chief minister
also directed establish-
ment of relief camps
for evacuated people.
The National Disaster
Response Force
(NDRF) has deployed
five teams to Kerala.
Vehicles wade through a waterlogged road after heavy rain in Kochi. —PHOTO BY PTI
Actor Dileep case:
Court seeks proof
to cancel bail
Terror-funding
case:Yasin
Malik convicted
Kochi (Agencies): Ac-
tor Dileep on Thursday
got some relief when
the trial court hearing
a petition filed by the
Crime Branch police
probe team seeking to
cancel his bail, asked
the prosecution
where’s the proof that
he has tampered with
the evidence.
Incidentally now,
there are two cases in
which Dileep has got
bail. One is the 2017 ac-
tress abduction case in
which he is the eighth
accused and was in jail
for over two months and
the second case was reg-
istered in December
that he conspired to do
away with the police of-
ficials who made him an
accused in the 2017 case.
In April, the probe
team filed a petition
seeking cancellation of
his bail. The prosecu-
tion informed the court
that they have all the
evidence against the ac-
tor which includes dele-
tion of chats.
New Delhi (PTI): Chief
of banned JKLF Yasin
Malik was on Thursday
convicted by a Delhi
court under the strin-
gent anti-terror law in a
case related to funding
of terror activities in
Jammu and Kashmir,
after he pleaded guilty
to all charges--including
terrorism and sedition-
-framed against him.
Special Judge Praveen
Singh posted the matter
for May 25 to announce
the quantum of punish-
ment and also directed
the National Investiga-
tion Agency (NIA) to as-
sess Malik’s financial
condition to determine
the amount of fine that
could be imposed.
Malik faces the maxi-
mum punishment of a
death penalty
, while the
minimum sentence for
the offences committed
by him is life imprison-
ment. According to the
NIA, the investigation
established that Malik
was the head of banned
terror organization.
Delhi HC quashes AAP’s
doorstep delivery scheme
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): The Delhi high
court on Thursday set
aside the Aam Aadmi
Party-led Delhi govern-
ment’s doorstep deliv-
ery of ration scheme
— Mukhymantri Ghar
Ghar Ration Yojna —
stating that the Cen-
tre’s grain cannot be
used for this scheme.
The high court allowed
two petitions filed by
ration dealers chal-
lenging the scheme.
A bench of Acting
Chief Justice Vipin
Sanghi and Justice Jas-
meet Singh said the
Delhi government is
free to bring another
doorstep delivery
scheme but it cannot
use grains provided by
the Centre for this
doorstep scheme. The
bench also said that
scheme did not have
the approval of the
lieutenant governor.
The high court had on
January 10 reserved its
order on the pleas by
petitioners Delhi
Sarkari Ration Dealers
Sangh and Delhi Ra-
tion Dealers Union af-
ter holding extensive
hearings.
The Delhi govern-
ment had made all
preparations to start
the scheme from 25th
March 2021, but an ob-
jection was raised by
the Centre.
Monitoring situation,
talks on, says MEA
CHINESE BRIDGE OVER PANGONG TSO LAKE
New Delhi (ANI): The
Ministryof ExternalAf-
fairs (MEA) on Thurs-
daysaidthatitwasmon-
itoring the situation af-
ter reports claimed that
the Chinese side was
constructing a second
bridge over the Pangong
Tso Lake in the Union
Territory of Ladakh.
Answering a question
regarding the recent
bridge reportedly built
by the Chinese side over
the Pangong Tso Lake
and, MEA spokesperson
Arindam Bagchi said
thatthetwoissuesof the
bridge and the talks are
different and are being
dealt with at different
levels.
“There is this issue
of talks as well as the
bridge. On the talks
part of it, we have been
pretty clear, we have
been saying the same
thing repeatedly, and
we have had various
rounds of conversa-
tions with the Chinese
side at different levels
diplomatic and military
side,” Bagchi said.
India calls out the West, says food grains
shouldn’t go the way of Covid vaccines
New Delhi (Agencies):
India on Wednesday ex-
pressed concern over
the hoarding of food
grains and discrimina-
tion amid an “unjusti-
fied increase” in food
prices and cautioned
the West that the issue
should not go the way
of Covid-19 vaccines,
for which poor coun-
tries struggled even for
initial doses, while rich
nations had an excess
of what they needed.
Minister of State for
External Affairs V Mu-
raleedharan said that
India’s decision to re-
strict wheat exports will
ensure it can “truly”
respond to those most in
need. “A number of low-
income societies are to-
day confronted with the
twin challenges of ris-
ing costs and difficulty
in access to food grains.
Even those like India,
which have adequate
stocks, have seen an un-
justified increase in
food prices. It is clear
that hoarding and spec-
ulation are at work. We
cannot allow this to
pass unchallenged,” Mr
Muraleedharan said.
“In order to manage
our own overall food se-
curity and support the
needs of neighbouring
and other vulnerable
developing countries,
we have announced
some measures regard-
ing wheat exports on
May 13, 2022,” he said.
The Minister of State
for External Affairs was
speaking at the ministe-
rial meeting on the
‘Global Food Security
Call to Action’, which
waschairedbyUSSecre-
tary of State Antony
Blinken under the US
Presidencyof theUNSe-
curity Council for May
.
The minister empha-
sised that India will
play its due role in ad-
vancing global food se-
curity and it will do so
in a manner in which it
upholds equity
, displays
compassion, and pro-
motes social justice.
“We have already
seen to our great cost
how these principles
were disregarded in the
case of Covid-19 vac-
cines. Open markets
must not become an ar-
gument to perpetuate
inequity and promote
discrimination,” Mura-
leedharan said.
RAIN RUINATION
Cars submerged in standing water after heavy rainfall, in Agartala on Thursday.
‘WILL KEEP HELPING NEIGHBOURS’
Muraleedharan also highlighted India’s “track re-
cord” of helping its partners in distress, saying
that even in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic
and ongoing conflicts including the war in Ukraine,
the country has never been found wanting. “In
keeping with our ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutum-
bakam’, and our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, we
will continue to assist our neighbours, in their hour
of need, and stand by them, always,” he said.
K’TAKA DEATH
TOLL RISES TO 4
TWO-DAY WEATHER WARNING FOR KASHMIR
Srinagar (Agencies):
The Meteorological De-
partment on Thursday
issued an advisory ask-
ing farmers to suspend
agricultural operations
and tourists to avoid
shikara (boat) rides on
Dal lake and cable car
rides in Gulmarg for 2
days because of likely
gusty winds and hail-
storm on May 19 and
20.The advisory issued
by the MeT department
said that there is a pos-
sibility of light to moder-
ate rain with thunder
and lightning accompa-
nied by hailstorm and
gusty winds at 30-40
kmph over most parts
of Kashmir and isolated
places of Jammu
Ladakh divisions from
May 19 to May 23.
“Farmers are advised to
avoid or suspend any
kind of chemical spray
including fertiliser ap-
plication and irrigation,”
the advisory read, add-
ing that “People should
avoid cable car in Gul-
marg and shikara ride in
Dal and other lakes”
Globally, around 65 million people are at risk due to climate
change-induced hunger.
Bengaluru: Heavy rain
continued to torment the
people in Karnataka on
Thursday with Bengaluru
being the worst affected.
Till now four deaths have
been reported due to the
heavy rain. Two migrant
labourers died while
working at a pipeline
project in Jnanabharathi
police station limits in
Bengaluru. A 38-year-old
person was electrocuted
in Doddaballapur in Ben-
galuru Rural district while
an elderly person died
following the collapse of
a wall of an old school
building in Holenarasipura
taluk in Hassan district.
All incidents came to light
on Wednesday. The Indian
Meteorological Depart-
ment has issued a red
alert for seven districts
of the state. Due to the
incessant rain in Dakshina
Kannada, Mysuru and
Shivamogga, the district
administrations have
declared a holiday for
schools on Thursday.
HOARDING AT WORK
—PHOTO
BY
PTI
Pb: Addl forces ahead
of Op Blue Star anniv
New Delhi (Ahen-
cies): The security
agencies have been put
on alert and vigil has
been increased in and
around the holy city of
Amritsar ahead of 38th
anniversary of Opera-
tion Blue Star next
month.
Operation Blue Star
was carried out by the
Indian Army at the Dar-
bar Sahib complex be-
tween June 1 and 8,
1984.
The banned outfit
Sikhs For Justice, says
a senior official, has an-
nounced that it will
hold a ‘Khalistan’ refer-
endum on 6 June.
“Keeping this in mind a
general alert has been
raised in entire state,”
says a senior official in
the Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA).
According to the
Chief Minister, 10 com-
panies have already
been sanctioned 10
more will be sanctioned
by Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, general
alert has been raised
in Punjab after rocket-
propelled grenade or
RPG attack at an intel-
ligence headquarters
in Mohali. In
Himachal, ‘Khalistan’
flags were found
draped at the gate of
the state Assembly in
Dharamshala.
Police personnel inspect security arrangements. —FILE PHOTO

BIZ BUZZ
07
INDIAISFASTEST-GROWING MAJORECONOMY:UN
United Nations (PTI):
As the Ukraine conflict
impacts the global
GDP, India is projected
to grow by 6.4% in 2022,
slower than the last
year’s 8.8% but still the
fastest-growing major
economy, with higher
inflationary pressures
and uneven recovery
of the labour market
curbing private con-
sumption and invest-
ment, according to a
UN report.
The UN Department
of Economic and So-
cial Affairs said in its
WESP report released
that the war in Ukraine
has upended the fragile
economic recovery
from the pandemic,
triggering a devastat-
ing humanitarian cri-
sis in Europe, increas-
ing food and commodi-
ty prices and globally
exacerbating inflation-
ary pressures.
The global economy
is now projected to
grow by only 3.1% in
2022, down from the
4.0% growth forecast
released in January
2022. Global inflation is
projected to increase to
6.7% in 2022, twice the
average of 2.9% during
2010–2020, with sharp
rises in food and ener-
gy prices, it said.
The report said that
the outlook in South
Asia has deteriorated
in recent months,
against the backdrop
of the ongoing conflict
in Ukraine, and higher
commodity prices and
potential negative
spillover effects from
monetary tightening in
the United States.
The regional eco-
nomic output is pro-
jected to expand by
5.5% in 2022, which is
0.4 percentage points
lower than the forecast
released in January
.
“India, the largest
economy in the region,
is expected to grow by
6.4% in 2022, well be-
low the 8.8% growth in
2021, as higher infla-
tionary pressures and
uneven recovery of the
labour market will
curb private consump-
tion and investment,”
it said.
For the fiscal year
2023, India’s growth is
forecast to be 6%.
Lead Author Chief,
Global Economic Mon-
itoring Branch, Eco-
nomic Analysis and
Policy Division, United
Nations Department of
Economic and Social
Affairs Hamid Rashid
told reporters at the
UN Headquarters that
almost all regions in
the world are affected
by high inflation ex-
cept for East Asia and
South Asia.
He said “India in
that sense” is a “little
bit” in a better position
as it did not have to ag-
gressively pursue mon-
etary tightening com-
pared to other coun-
tries in Latin America.
India’s projected
growth for 2022 is 6.4%,
a downward adjust-
ment of 0.3% from Jan-
uary
.
“We expect Indian
recovery to remain
strong in the near
term, in the next year
and two, but again we
cannot completely dis-
count the downside
risk that would come
from external chan-
nels. So that risk is still
there,” he said.
The report added
that higher prices and
shortages of farming
inputs including ferti-
lisers are likely to per-
sist in the region.
“This will probably
result in weaker har-
vests and exert further
upward pressures on
food prices in the near
term,” the report said.
It said along with
higher energy prices,
elevated prices of food
will likely increase
food insecurity across
the region. Consumer
Price Inflation in the
region is expected to
accelerate to 9.5% in
2022, from 8.9% in 2021.
The report also said
that tighter external
financial conditions
will adversely affect re-
gional growth pros-
pects, especially for
countries with high
exposure to global cap-
ital markets facing
debt distress or risks
of debt default.
Gurugram (PTI):
Maruti Suzuki India
(MSI) on Thursday said
its new manufacturing
facility in Haryana, the
company’s third in the
state, would reach peak
production capacity of
10 lakh units per an-
num in the next eight
years entailing a total
investment of Rs 18,000
crore.
The new facility,
which would come at a
800-acre site at IMT
Kharkhoda in Sonipat
district, will entail total
investment of Rs 11,000
crore in the first phase
with a production ca-
pacity of 2.5 lakh units
per annum.
The first set of vehi-
cles are expected to roll
out from the facility in
2025. Speaking at an
event here to mark the
formal announcement
of land allotment to the
auto major, MSI Chair-
man RC Bhargava said
the 10 lakh production
capacity at the Sonipat
plant would help in ca-
tering to the demand in
both domestic as well as
export markets.
“We expect, subject to
market conditions in
India being favourable
we will be able to reach
our peak production ca-
pacity in the Sonipat
plant in eight years.
The plant will then be-
come the largest site in
the country with pro-
duction capacity of 10
lakh cars,” he noted.
The success of Suzu-
ki in India has actually
led to the strengthening
of economic ties be-
tween India and Japan,
Bhargava said.
He noted that the suc-
cess of MSI shows that
there is no alternative
but for governments
and the private sector to
work together with mu-
tual trust.
Maruti to invest `18k cr in Sonipat plant
New
manufacturing
facility in
Haryana would
reach peak
production
capacity of 10 L
units per annum
ACCORDING TO A UN REPORT,
INDIA IS PROJECTED TO
GROW BY 6.4% IN 2022
GLOBAL ECONOMY
LPG price up by `3.5,
crosses `1,000 mark
New Delhi (PTI):
Cooking gas LPG price
was on Thursday hiked
by `3.50 per cylinder,
the second increase in
rate this month follow-
ing the firming of inter-
national energy rates.
Non-subsidised LPG
now costs `1,003 per
14.2-kg cylinder in the
national capital, up
from `999.50 previously,
according to a price no-
tification of state-
owned fuel retailers.
This is the second in-
crease in LPG rate this
month and the third in
less than two months.
The price was hiked by
`50 per cylinder on
March 22 and again by
the same quantum on
May 7.
Since April 2021, pric-
es have risen by `193.5
per cylinder.
Non-subsidised cook-
ing gas is the one that
consumers buy after
exhausting their quota
of 12 cylinders at subsi-
dised or below-market
rates.
Non-subsidised LPG
costs `1,002.50 per 14.2-
kg cylinder in Mumbai
while it is priced at
`1,018.50 a bottle in
Chennai and `1,029 in
Kolkata.
Alongside, oil firms
also hiked the price of
commercial LPG cylin-
ders by `8 per cylinder
to `2,354 per 19-kg bot-
tle. On May 1, the price
of a commercial LPG
cylinder was increased
by `102.50 to `2,355.50.
Adani forays
into healthcare
services
New Delhi (PTI):
Billionaire Gautam
Adani’s group has
created a new
company for its
foray into healthcare
services through the
acquisition of large
hospitals, diag-
nostic chains, and
offline and digital
pharmacies. Adani
Enterprises Ltd in a
regulatory filing said
a wholly-owned sub-
sidiary, Adani Health
Ventures Ltd (AHVL)
was incorporated
on May 17, 2022.
AVHL will “carry
on the business of
healthcare-related
activities.
SC: GST rulings
not binding on
Centre, States
New Delhi (PTI): The
Supreme Court on
Thursday ruled that
the GST council’s
recommendations
are not binding on
Union and State but
have a persuasive
value as the country
has a cooperative
federal structure. A
bench of Justices DY
Chandrachud, Surya
Kant, Vikram Nath
also held that the
Centre and State
govts have simulta-
neous powers to leg-
islate on GST but the
council must work
in a harmonious
manner to achieve a
workable solution.
Sugar exports
up 64% to 71
lakh tonnes
New Delhi (PTI):
Sugar exports have
risen by 64% to 71
lakh tonnes during
October 2021-April
2022 period on
better demand for
the Indian sweetener
in global markets,
according to industry
body ISMA. In a
statement, ISMA
said that 43.19 lakh
tonnes of sugar was
exported during
the corresponding
period of the last
year. ISMA said it
expects over 90 lakh
tonnes of export in
the current 2021-22
marketing year.
SENSEX TANKS 1416 POINTS
Mumbai (PTI): Equity
benchmarks fell sharp-
ly on Thursday, mirror-
ing a sell-off in global
markets, with the
Sensex and Nifty tum-
bling over 2.60% on
across-the-board sell-
ing.
Persistent foreign
fund outflows also con-
tinue to dampen senti-
ment. The 30-share BSE
benchmark Sensex
dived 1,416.30 points or
2.61% to settle at
52,792.23. During the
day, it tumbled 1,539.02
points or 2.83% to
52,669.51.
The broader NSE Nif-
ty tanked 430.90 points
or 2.65% to end at
15,809.40.
From the Sensex
firms, HCL Technolo-
gies, Wipro, Infosys,
TCS, Tech Mahindra,
Tata Steel, IndusInd
Bank and Kotak Mahin-
dra Bank were the ma-
jor laggards. ITC and Dr
Reddy’s emerged as the
gainers.
INVESTORS LOSE
OVER ` 6.71 LAKH CR
New Delhi (PTI): Equity
investors became poorer
by over `6.71 lakh crore
on Thursday as domestic
benchmark indices tum-
bled amid a global market
meltdown. In line with the
weak market trend, the
market capitalisation of
BSE-listed firms tumbled
by `6,71,051.73 crore to
stand at `2,49,06,394.08
crore.
ITC SHARES JUMP OVER 3%;
MCAP CLIMBS `11,276 CRORE
New Delhi (PTI): Shares of ITC jumped
over 3% on Thursday after the company
reported an 11.60% rise in consolidated
net profit for the
fourth quarter
ended March. The
stock gained 3.43%
to settle at `275.65
on the BSE. During the day, it jumped
4.74% to its 52-week high of `279.15. At
the NSE, it went up by 3.35% to end at
`275.75 apiece. The company’s market
valuation jumped by `11,276.55 crore
to `3,39,690.55 crore on the BSE. In
volume terms, 23.54 lakh shares were
traded at the BSE and over 7.82 crore
shares at the NSE during the day.
` SLUMPS 10 PAISE TO CLOSE AT
ALL-TIME LOW OF 77.72/$
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee extended its
losses and slumped 10 paise to close at a
record low of 77.72 (provisional) against
the US dollar on
Thursday, weighed
down by a negative
trend in domes-
tic equities and
unabated foreign fund outflows. At the
interbank foreign exchange market, the
rupee opened lower at 77.72 against the
greenback, and finally settled for the day
at 77.72, down 10 paise over its previous
close. During the trading session, the ru-
pee touched an intra-day low of 77.76 and
a high of 77.63. On Wednesday, the rupee
declined by 18 paise to close at 77.62.
‘Wealth
creation pvt
sector’s job’
New Delhi (PTI):
NITI Aayog CEO Am-
itabh Kant on Thurs-
day said it is the pri-
vate sector’s job to
create wealth and the
government should
focus on laying down
public policy frame-
work.
“The govern-
ment’s job should be
laying down public
policy framework, it
is the private sector’s
job to create wealth.
The only other areas
where the govern-
ment should be are
health, education
and nutrition,” he
said.
Risingcotton,yarn
pricesmayhitapparel
exportstarget
New Delhi (PTI):
The unabated surge
in prices of cotton
and cotton yarn
may affect the coun-
try’s apparel ex-
ports target of $19-
20 billion during
the current fiscal,
AEPC chairman
said on Thursday
.
He said that the
prices have jumped
by about 125-130%
during the last 18
months and one of
the reasons for that
would be “un-
checked” exports of
cotton and cotton
yarn. He suggested
the government to
impose a temporary
ban on exports of
cotton and cotton
yarn. “In 2021-22,
the exports were $16
billion and we are
targeting $19-20 bil-
lion this fiscal. But
because of the price
rise, it looks to be a
concern on achiev-
ing the target. The
industry is facing a
big challenge at the
raw material front,”
Goenka said.
He added that if
the price rise does
not stop, global cus-
tomers would start
looking at sourcing
options other than
India.
Temporary ban
Mumbai (PTI): Larg-
est private sector lender
HDFC Bank on Thurs-
day announced that it
has carved out rural
banking as a separate
vertical and will be
opening 1,060 branches
in mofussil areas and
semi-urban pockets as
part of the increased
focus in FY23.
Earlier, rural bank-
ing was a part of the
wider retail branch
banking vertical, and
the bank has appointed
Anil Bhavnani to head
the newly-carved rural
banking vertical.
It can be noted that
there seems to be an in-
creased focus on the ru-
ral banking business
among lenders, espe-
cially in the private sec-
tor who were earlier
blamed for focusing
only on the cash-spin-
ning urban pockets
which had prompted
policy to mandate rural
presence.
The largest private
sector lender said the
move is a part of mak-
ing the bank future
ready, and will address
the untapped opportu-
nities in the market.
MM, Volkswagen sign pact
for MEB electric components
Mumbai (PTI): Volk-
swagen and Mahindra
Mahindra are explor-
ing the use of modular
electric drive matrix
(MEB) components for
the latter’s new ‘Born
Electric Platform’.
MM intends to
equip its Born Electric
Platform with MEB
electric components
such as electric motors,
battery system compo-
nents and battery cells,
MM said in a release
on Thursday
.
The binding supply
contract is planned to
be concluded by the end
of 2022, it said.
MEB electric plat-
form and its compo-
nents allow car manu-
facturers to build their
portfolio of electrified
vehicles, quickly and
cost-effectively
.
MM officials and Volkswagen officials sign the pact.
HDFC Bank carves out
rural banking separately

08
2NDFRONT
Equality cannot be achieved unless
it is understood from the point of
the view of the underprivileged.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
State govt allows virtual
hearings for RTI appeals
in quasi-judicial matters
Satish Nandgaonkar
Mumbai: In a deci-
sion that could set a
precedent for Right
to Information hear-
ings going virtual,
the state govern-
ment’s General Ad-
ministration De-
partment (GAD) has
directed all its of-
fices to provide the
option of virtual
hearings for RTI ap-
peals in quasi-judi-
cial matters.
A formal Govern-
ment Resolution dated
May 17 was issued di-
recting all govern-
ment departments to
organise infrastruc-
ture for video confer-
encing facilities if RTI
applicants demand it.
RTI activists led by
former Chief Infor-
mation Commissioner
Shailesh Gandhi had
filed public interest
litigation (PIL) de-
manding that the
practice of virtual
hearings adopted by
government depart-
ments during the pan-
demic should be con-
tinued. Virtual hear-
ings held via video
conferencing would
save a lot of time and
cost for both citizens
and public servants,
the PIL had argued.
The GR has now for-
malized the state’s de-
cision to acquiesce
with this demand.
Gandhi said that the
group of RTI activists
first sent a legal notice
to the Chief Secretary
on the issue.
Over 200 wild animals spotted at
Pench Tiger Reserve during survey
First India Bureau
Nagpur: More than
200 wild animals, in-
cluding tigers, leop-
ards and deer, were
spotted during a wa-
terhole survey con-
ducted at Pench Ti-
ger Reserve in Nag-
pur, an official said
on Thursday. The wa-
terhole survey was
conducted on May 16
as part of the forest
department’s Nisr-
ganubhav-2022 event
at the reserve.
According to Deputy
Director of Pench Tiger
Reserve Pradhu Nath
Shukla, at least 222 wild
animals were spotted
during the survey,
which was conducted
in five ranges of the re-
serve, and 71 machans
were made available for
the exercise conducted
by field staff.
The public survey
was planned in the buff-
ersrangesof Paoni(uni-
fied control) and Nagal-
wadi and 34 machans
were offered for the pro-
gramme, he said.
A tigress with four
cubs and a leopard
were sighted in Nagal-
wadi range, the official
said adding some of
the other wild animals
were also spotted dur-
ing the survey.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: After the
Supreme Court on
Wednesday allowed
the Madhya Pradesh
government to hold
local body polls with
the OBC quota, Ma-
harashtra Deputy
Chief Minister Ajit
Pawar on Thursday
said the state govern-
ment will approach
the apex court once
the committee
formed to collect em-
pirical data for the
OBC quota submits
its report to the gov-
ernment next month.
Pawar said the Ma-
harashtra govern-
ment has also started
taking steps to see if
such a decision can be
applicable to Maha-
rashtra as well.
Talking to reporters
here, he said the Maha
Vikas Aghadi govern-
ment will make efforts
till the last moment to
see that the Other Back-
ward Classes (OBCs)
get representation in
the coming local body
polls in the state.
Maharashtra Con-
gress spokesperson
Sachin Sawant said the
state government
should study the Mad-
hya Pradesh Backward
Class Commission's fi-
nal report on the basis
of which local body
polls were allowed
there with OBC quota,
and that it could serve
as a guide for the
western state.
“The committee
formed under former
chief secretary Jayant
Banthia to collate em-
pirical data of the
OBCs is working. When
it submits its report in
June, we will present
our side before the
court,” Pawar said.
“The Maharashtra
government will not
let the total reserva-
tion cross the ceiling
of 50 per cent when it
tries to ensure politi-
cal quota for the
OBCs,” he said.
We have started
working in that direc-
tion. We have spoken
to the officials con-
cerned. They also
seemed positive,” the
deputy CM said add-
ing that “The Maha-
rashtra government
has studied the data as
submitted by Madhya
Pradesh before the Su-
preme Court.”
‘WillapproachSConcepanel
submitsreportonOBCquota’
SC on Wednesday allowed MP to hold local body polls with OBC quota
The committee formed under former chief
secretary Jayant Banthia to collate empiri-
cal data of the OBCs is working. When it
submits its report in June, we will present our side
before the court. —Ajit Pawar Deputy Chief Minister
Hearings held
via video
conferencing
would save
citizens, public
servants’ time,
money, a PIL
had argued
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Indian
shuttler Chirag Shet-
ty, who was part of
the team that recent-
ly won the Thomas
Cup 2022, returned to
Mumbai on Wednes-
day night.
The Indian team
scripted history on
Sunday by winning the
first-ever Thomas Cup
crown ever since its in-
ception in 1949.
“I am extremely glad
to have won this tour-
nament. I have never
felt this way after win-
ning any tournament.
This is really a big
win. Earlier, we had
never achieved any-
thing great in the
Thomas Cup, so this
time we were highly
motivated to win and
luckily we did it,” said
Chirag about the vic-
tory, after his arrival
in the city.
In what was India’s
first-ever appearance
in the tournament fi-
nale, the Indian bad-
minton team defeated
14-time champions In-
donesia in the Thomas
Cup 2022 final at the
Impact Arena in Bang-
kok, Thailand by 3-0
to lift the coveted
trophy.
“We were facing In-
donesia in the finals,
who were already the
14-time champions of
the Thomas Cup. The
odds were totally
against us. But there
was one thing which
was in our favour and
that was our belief. All
members of the team
believed that they
could win and this
spirit helped us win
the tournament,” said
the shuttler.
No Indian team has
previously reached the
final of the Thomas
and Uber Cup in its 70-
plus year history. Men
reached the Thomas
Cup semi-finals in 1952,
1955 and 1979 while the
women’s team made it
to the top-four in the
Uber Cup in 2014 and
2016.
The 2022 winning In-
dian team featured
Lakshya Sen, Kidambi
Srikanth, HS Prannoy,
doubles pair Satwik-
sairaj Rankireddy-Chi-
rag Shetty and others.
Our spirit, belief helped us win tournament: Chirag Shetty
HISTORIC VICTORY
lll
The shuttler,
credited India’s
first-ever
Thomas Cup
triumph, since
its inception,
to the team’s
motivation to
beat the odds Shetty speaking to the media after his arrival in Mumbai. —ANI
Jehan heads into Spanish F2
round for maiden season win
First India Bureau
Mumbai: India’s Je-
han Daruvala will
be hoping to convert
a run of three suc-
cessive podium fin-
ishes into his maid-
en win of the sea-
son, as he heads to
the Circuit de Barce-
lona-Catalunya for
the Spanish round
of the Formula 2
championship.
The Indian racer
has scored a podium
spot in each of this
season’s three
rounds so far, the
only driver of the
current crop to do so.
His consistency has
put the 23-year-old
Prema Racing driver
third in the overall
drivers’ standings,
just 16 points behind
championship leader
Theo Pourchaire.
Already a three-
time Formula 2 win-
ner, Jehan’s aim is to
become the first Indi-
an to win the Formula
2 title this season. He
will be looking to fur-
ther cement his cre-
dentials as a champi-
onship contender
with a victory around
the 4.6-km long track.
Jehan Daruvala
said, “We have had a
strong start to our
season and we go into
this weekend with a
lot of confidence, es-
pecially after the
pace we showed in
Saudi Arabia and
Imola. My aim is ob-
viously to be fighting
at the front.”
First India Bureau
Pune: Farmers from
Puntamba village in
M a h a r a s h t r a ’ s
Ahmednagar district,
which had become
the epicentre of a
massive protest by
cultivators in 2017,
have decided to
launch a fresh agita-
tion over issues re-
lated to sugarcane
and other crops.
A meeting was held
in this regard at the
Puntamba gram pan-
chayat on Thursday,
said sarpanch (village
head) Dhananjay Dhan-
wate.
“A preliminary meet-
ing of farmers was
held, where we decided
to start another agita-
tion for various issues
related to sugarcane un-
der the banner of the
Kisan Kranti Morcha
(KKM),” he said.
“Sugarcane cultiva-
tion was on the higher
side in the state due to
(last year’s) excess
rains,butnowsugarfac-
tories are not picking up
the crop. Farmers are
burning the crop or
even committing sui-
cide,” Dhanwate said.
“Our demand will be
that the state govern-
ment provide help of
Rs2 lakh to the farmers
whose sugarcane is still
in the fields,” he added.
Issues related to on-
ion prices, power out-
ages, and milk produc-
tion were also dis-
cussed, he said.
“We will have a gram
sabha (village assem-
bly) on May 23 and the
further course of ac-
tion will be decided,”
Dhanwate said. Farm-
ers from Puntamba,
under the banner of
KKM, had organized a
massive farmer strike
in 2017 to press vari-
ous demands.
Racer aims to
become the 1st
Indian to score
a Formula 2 title
this season
CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER
Sugarcanewoes:Puntambafarmerstoprotestagain
A meeting was held in this regard at Puntamba gram panchayat
FIRST-EVER
Teenage girl hurt after
being hit by hammer
First India Bureau
Nagpur: A teenage
girl, studying at a
private institute in
Ajni area of Nag-
pur city, suffered
serious injuries af-
ter a mentally-chal-
lenged man hit a
hammer on her
head when she was
attending computer
classes on Wednes-
day afternoon.
The 35-year-old
man identified as
Chetan Likhare, a
resident of Narendra
Nagar was arrested
later, the police said.
“The girl is a stu-
dent of a computer
institute, where the
accused had studied
earlier. The man
went to her class-
room and suddenly
hit on her head,” a
police official said.
Jehan Daruvala

evendra Fad-
navis and his
wife Amruta, are
the perfect em-
bodiment of the
millennium cou-
ple in modern India.
Bothprofessionalshave
carved out a successful
professional and pub-
lic profile for them-
selves but, it was no
mean feat achieve-
ment for the latter.
Amruta Fadnavis’
professional pur-
suits could easily
havebeensmotheredby
the high profile of her hus-
band Devendra, the erst-
while Maharashtra
Chief Minister and
the associated pre-
eminence of his
stature in society
.
However,Amruta
Fadnavis has held
her handling moth-
erhood, a sing-
ing career, so-
cial work, be-
ing a banker
and coping
ably even
when she
was drawn into the public
domain through controver-
sies regarding her hus-
band’s political personality
.
Self admittedly, the cou-
ple always gave each other
the requisite space to excel
in their respective voca-
tions. While Amruta has
been recognized as one of
the contemporary singers
and style divas in music and
modern society, she had re-
tained the distinct tradition-
al culture of a typical Maha-
rashtrian family
.
Amruta’s multifaceted
personality and her free-
spirited and candid demean-
ourwouldhavebeendifficult
to pull off as successfully as
she has for lesser mortals.
She has multitasked even in
the professional sphere of
work she has engaged in and
is an inspiration for women
seekingtobehighachievers.
She was candid during a
recent television talk show
about how she found en-
couragement and support
to pursue her professional
interests from her hubby,
Devendra, whose preoccu-
pation with full-time poli-
tics has meant quality fam-
ily time came at a premium
for the couple.
Amruta projects the per-
fectimageof themillennium
woman, who is not intimi-
datedbythebustlingdynam-
ics of the ever-changing po-
litical ecosystem in Maha-
rashtra. Her headstrong na-
ture was noted, even by Dev-
endra’spoliticalrivals,when
shechosetofileadefamation
suit against now incarcerat-
edMVAministerNawabMa-
lik over his pejorative public
messages against her.
Amruta knows her mind
well and is clear about her
choice of sporting a modern
clothesline. Why she has
been sought by many a fash-
ionista designer to flaunt
designerbrandlabelsduring
fashion shows. She does not
take the easy path of being
the understated or even un-
derminedwifeof ahigh-pro-
file politician. Instead, she
stands out as a free-thinking
individual who speaks her
mind, does not mince her
words and will take the fight
toanyonewhodarestoscorn
her, as a few seasoned politi-
cians have found out to their
own detriment.
Her creativity has also led
her to create music albums
thataresociallyrelevantand
immensely popular, the lat-
est being a music album that
features the Big B of Bolly-
wood – Amitabh Bachchan.
Amruta’s ability to hold her
ownasabanker,socialwork-
er, playback singer, fashioni-
sta, mother as well as the
better half of a high-profile
politician successfully has
seen her emerge as a leading
light for the next millennial
generation in India.
MUMBAI | FRIDAY,
MAY 20, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
TRADITIONAL
TRADITIONAL
CULTURAL VALUES
CULTURAL VALUES
AMRUTA FADNAVIS: FASHIONISTA WITH
D
CITY FIRST BRINGS TO YOU A GLIMPSE OF THE MULTI-FACETED WOMAN THAT AMRUTA FADNAVIS IS! SHE IS ONE POLITICIAN’S
WIFE WHO HAS CARVED A PARALLEL NICHE FOR HERSELF, WEARS IRON GLOVES AND IS VERY MUCH THE SUCCESSFUL
SUPERWOMAN BEHIND THE SUCCESSFUL MAN. AN INSPIRATION TO MANY, AMRUTA IS KNOWN TO WEAR HER LAURELS LIGHTLY
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@
firstindianews.com
Amruta Fadnavis at the prize distribution event for winners of Women Kabaddi organised by Maharashtra
Tamil Sports Club and BJP Dharavi division in May.
Devendra and Amruta Fadnavis with Divija on Holi
Amruta and Devendra
Amruta
Amruta
Devendra and Amruta Fadnavis at the Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards Ceremony Amruta works for street children and dwellers for their betterment under the NGO Divyaj
Amruta addressing women on Womens’ Day.
Amruta prays at ancient Sri Gundi temple
at Raj Bhavan premises, on her birthday on April 9
Amruta shares a photo with her daughter Divija,
on Mother’s Day
Amruta with Divija on Gudi Padwa

he beauty of
painting is
you’re giving a
sensation par-
allel to life, de-
scribing some-
thing in paint
which gives a different
feeling than reality
, yet
paradoxicallyenhances
the viewer’s experience
of the world.
When I first met Utt-
karsha during my
school day at Saint An-
gela Sophia School, she
instantlyappearedtobe
an introvert to me and
in a world that reveres
extroverts, it was pretty
difficult for me to com-
prehend.
In societies where be-
inggarrulous,confident
and outspoken is ideal,
the quieter ones among
us may find themselves
left out, passed over and
ignored. But there one
fine evening, during an
extracurricularactivity
,
someone called out her
name, I was startled as
to how she would con-
tribute to the upcoming
event. Little did I know,
she was a deep thinker,
who probably had great
powers of concentra-
tion.
I saw her with paint-
brushes, and sheets and
creating an aesthetical-
ly beautiful set for the
upcoming function in
our school.
Iwashappytoseeher
and looking at master-
works, I realized the
best ones breathed. The
accuracy and economy
of touch gave a feeling
to forms, which concen-
tratestheessentialsand
eliminates the superflu-
ous, giving the sensa-
tiononeisexperiencing
a slice of life frozen in
time.
She still didn’t talk
much and was pretty
scared of the extrovert
womaninsideme.Years
passed by
, and one fine
day she turned out to be
a colleague of mine.
AndIadmiredherwork
all the more.
From painting por-
traits and sketches, this
BTS lover can instantly
create art. And for her,
the setup, sheets, col-
ours and other accesso-
ries aren’t a thing. You
leave her in nature and
she can create beautiful
art on leaves and the
stems.
This extraordinary
woman, after a windy
night, doesn’t wake up
normal but ends up cre-
atingabreathtakingart
with the dust collected
over the vehicles.
When asked about
her journey
, the Chota
packet Bada Dhamaka
said, “Coming from a
family who strictly
roots for education and
a strong career in the
same field it got pretty
difficult for me to ex-
plore my art during the
initial days. I opted for
Biology in my higher
schooling and pursued
my graduation in the
samefieldaswell.Little
did I know that my love
for reporting, filled
work,etcwoulddragme
to becoming a journal-
ist one day
.
I have always been
highly fond of art and
the beauty it holds. She
further added, that my
mother Arti Shekhar is
a commercial artist,
yet she never taught
me directly in this
field, she always
thought I’d diverge
from my academics but
always supported my
love for art. My father,
Chandra Shekhar Sriv-
astava, a criminal law-
yer by profession, is far
away from understand-
ing my art but he al-
ways supports my pas-
sion, He knows as far
as I’m balancing it with
my studies, it isn’t a
problem.”
When asked what in-
spires her to follow her
passionandconsidering
a hectic schedule, how
she manages to create a
balance, Miss Shekhar
said, “Honestly speak-
ing I am too moody
when it comes to art, I
can start working in the
middle of the night and
work tirelessly for days
while on some days, I
wouldn’t even lift a pen
unless my heart gives
me permission to do so.
ButIenjoypaintingand
creating art, it is some
different level of sat-
isfaction. It is indeed
my love language, I
express gratitude and
affection via my art.”
10
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
T
MITALI DUSAD
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions, and desires, but it is even more
personal than that, it’s about sharing the way we experience the world. Uttkarsha
Shekhar journalist by profession and an artist by passion, hailing from the Pink
City too believes that art is the communication of intimate concepts that cannot
be faithfully portrayed by words alone! In a tete-a-tete with City First, the multi-
talented beauty talks about her love for creativity!
Art is my love
language : Uttkarsha
Uttkarsha Shekhar keenly colouring her art work

ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia MUMBAI FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
11
Many people have been revving up to travel for the first time in a few years and their
expectations for how life-changing and perfect their trip is going to be are probably way too
high. From the gigantic Himalayan mountains in the north to the emerald green tea plantation
hills in the south, City First brings to you a multitude of places to visit in summer in India!
SHUBHANSHI PATHAK
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
he summer travel sea-
son is here and this
year things look radi-
cally different. Re-
strictions in tourist
hot spots are loosen-
ing, mask rules on
flights are changing, and more
people are making travel plans.
Summers in India can be ex-
tremely unforgiving. When the
mercury rises above 40C, the
high altitude mountains are a
welcome respite.
T
S
tunning Gompas (Tibetan Buddhist monasteries), flutter-
ing prayer flags, and whitewashed stupas, Ladakh is a riot
of intricate murals and red-robed monks. It is an adventure
playground for rafting and high-altitude trekking. Since Ladakh
is most accessible during the summer months, it is one of the
best places for summer holidays in India. It is said that only in
Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade
suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time. With a
culture similar to Tibetan culture, the people of Ladakh are
friendly and welcoming to tourists.
N
estled in between the snow-capped slopes of the
Pir Panjal and the Dhauladhar ranges, Manali is
one of the most popular hill stations in India and
perfect for visiting in summer. From museums to tem-
ples, from quaint little hippie villages to bustling up-
scale streets, river adventures to trekking trails,
Manali has every a reason to be the tourist magnet it
is. Manali has many trekking options around it, mak-
ing it a great base for exploring this side of the Hima-
layas. River Beas provides great rafting options in the
nearby town of Kullu. Adjoining the Parvati river, lies
the Parvati Valley with Kasol, Manikaran, Tosh and
small villages attracting travellers for longer stays.
Atal Tunnel now allows travellers to reach Sissu with-
in a few hours making Spiti way more accessible.
T
he tiny tinsel town Dalhousie tucked away in the lap of
Himachal Pradesh is a piece of paradise for all travellers.
It boasts of old-world charm, mesmerising natural land-
scape, pine-clad valleys, flowerbedecked meadows, fast-flowing
rivers, magnificent misty mountains and some of the most
spectacular views in the world. If you are planning a trip to
Dalhousie, you must include Khajjiar in your itinerary. Known
as the mini Switzerland of India, Khajjiar is just 21 km away.
The little hill town is famous for its spellbinding vistas of
mountains loaded with white snow and lush green pastures of
land. Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary in Khajjiar is famous for its
exquisite variety of endangered species and breathtaking views
of the mountains in the backdrop. Chamba, located almost
50km from Dalhousie, is also worth visiting.
PANGONG LAKE: KHARDUNG LA NUBRA VALLEY SOLANG VALLEY: JOGINI WATERFALL
O
ne of the twelve districts of Himachal Pradesh,
Kinnaur is located on the Indo-Tibet border.
Situated at a distance of 235 km from Shimla,
Kinnaur hosts the views of Zanskar Valley, snow-
draped Dhauladar range, Chitkul - The last village
on the indo-Tibet border and have Satluj, Baspa and
Spiti rivers meandering through it. Also known as
the “Land of God”, the most important attraction
of Kinnaur district is the religious “Shiva Lingam”,
the representation of Lord Shiva and the mesmeris-
ing rock formations change their colours several
times during the day. There are old Buddhist mon-
asteries and temples in the vicinity which hold par-
ticular importance and are revered by Buddhists.
KINNAUR: ZANSKAR VALLEY
PANCHPULA: KHAJJIAR

20052022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

20052022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 20052022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

Similar to 20052022_First India_Mumbai.pdf (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (7)

20052022_First India_Mumbai.pdf