22082022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

‘Adventure sport tag to Dahi
Handi will bring int’l fame’
Mumbai (PTI): Minis-
ter Uday Samant on
Sunday said giving
‘Dahi Handi’ the status
of an adventure sport
will bring fame to the
country at the interna-
tional level.
Samant, a rebel Shiv
Sena leader from the
Eknath Shinde camp,
slammed the Opposi-
tion for misguiding peo-
ple about the decision
by claiming that the
move will cause aspir-
ants to lose the opportu-
nity to land a govern-
ment job.
Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde has ac-
corded the adventure
sport tag to ‘Dahi Han-
di’, which will allow
young participants
(called govindas) to ap-
ply for government jobs
under the sports quota.
Samant further said
that the Opposition was
trying hard to criticize
the Shinde govern-
ment’s announcement.
They are misguiding
people by claiming that
aspirants will lose the
opportunity to land a
government job. The
government Turn to P6
A govinda, atop a human pyramid, wears a PPE kit to attend a Dahi
Handi event on Janmashtami, in Navi Mumbai on Friday. —PTI
Ahead of SC hearing, Uddhav says full faith in the judiciary
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Shiv Sena
president Uddhav
Thackeray on Sunday
told party workers that
he had complete faith in
the judicial system and
he would look forward
to the crucial hearing
in the Supreme Court
on Monday
.
Chief Justice of In-
dia NV Ramana is
scheduled to hear six
different petitions per-
taining to the legitima-
cy of the two Sena fac-
tions, and will decide if
the matter merits refer-
ral to the Constitution
bench. The CJI was
scheduled to hear the
matter on August 08,
but the hearing was
postponed to August 12,
and then again to Au-
gust 22.
Addressing a group
of Sena activists,
Thackeray on Sunday
said, “Several Shiv
Sena functionaries and
party workers are sub-
mitting sworn affida-
vits. Now you have also
submitted. I consider
this as the first step to-
wards victory
. I want to
tell you that whatever
happens in the Su-
preme Court, let it be. I
have faith in the judi-
cial system. Besides,
the people’s sentiments
are with us. People are
just waiting for mid-
term elections so that
these ‘gaddars’ can be
taught a lesson.
But, they don’t have
the courage to face
elections.”
Both factions of the
Shiv Sena have
asked loyalists
to submit
sworn affi-
d a v i t s
s t a t i n g
t h e i r
support. These affida-
vits are likely to be
used when the Election
Commission asks them
to show their member-
ship strength and sup-
port. After Monday’s
hearing in the
S u p r e m e
Court, the
State Elec-
tion Com-
mission is
also sched-
uled to
h e a r
the matter on Tuesday.
The Thackeray-led fac-
tion had sought four
weeks of time to sub-
mit its say, but SEC
only gave them two
weeks.
Thackeray is also
scheduled to begin his
Maha Prabhodhan
Yatra after the Ganesh
festival (Aug 31-Sept 09)
is over. While the party
is yet to declare a for-
mal schedule, Uddhav
is likely to flag off the
yatra with a rally in
Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde’s constituency
of Thane, and end with
another rally at Bindu
Chowk in Kolhapur.
Shiv Sena’s senior
leaders and Aaditya
Thackeray are likely to
address rallies in other
Lok Sabha constituen-
cies.
In the first local body
polls of 271 gram pan-
chayats, the Shinde fac-
tion won 40 seats com-
pared to Shiv Sena’s 25-
odd. The group would
like to show its perfor-
mance in the elections
to other local bodies in-
cluding the 14 munici-
pal corporations. In sev-
eral corporations espe-
cially in the Mumbai
Metropolitan Region,
Shiv Sena councillors
have en masse switched
loyalties to Eknath
Shinde camp.
FINGERS CROSSED
The Thackeray faction will be hoping that CJI Ra-
mana gives a ruling at least on the disqualification
of MLAs before he retires on August 26, and Justice
UU Lalit—who is also from Maharashtra--takes over
as Chief Justice from August 27. The Shinde faction,
on the other hand, would prefer the courts to take
their time, as this would mean the Maha Yuti gov-
ernment stays in power while the court decides.
Shiv Sena
president also
dared rebel
MLAs to face
mid-term polls
Recognizing Dahi Handi as an adventure
sport will bring world fame to India. It will
not impact students who try hard to crack
the Maharashtra Public Service Commission exam
every year. —-Uday Samant, Maha industries minister
GOVT DENIES
REPORTS ON
WHEAT IMPORT
New Delhi: India has
enough wheat to feed its
people, the government
said on Sunday, refuting
a Bloomberg report that
said production cuts and
rising prices worsened by
a heatwave may force it
to consider grain imports.
A news agency reported
saying Finance Ministry
had not responded to an
email seeking comment.
FOR 90 MINUTES, 11
PILOTS MADE 16
FUTILE ATTEMPTS
DARYA: DAUGHTER
OF PUTIN ALLY DIES
IN MOSCOW BLAST
Kolkata: Pilot of the flights
to arrive in Kolkata between
5pm and 6:30pm on Friday
and again in the half hour
period after 8pm had
trying times as they have
to facing strong crosswind
while landing with 11
captain failed to stabilize
the approach on multiple
attempts and chose to abort
touchdown and full throttle.
Moscow: Daughter of a
close ally of Russia’s Prez
Vladimir Putin has been
killed in a suspected car
bombing. Darya Dugina, 29,
died after an explosion on a
road outside Moscow. It is
thought her father, Russian
philosopher Alexander, who
is known as “Putin’s brain”,
may have been intended
target of the attack.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
Nation paid tribute to a
prominent OBC leader and
two-time UP CM on 1st
death anniv on Sunday.
Kalyan Singh was BJP’s
key hardline Hindutva face
in north India, especially
during its Ram Janmab-
hoomi campaign. Singh
was appointed Governor
of Rajasthan in 2014. P5
Congress veteran Ahmed
Patel was remembered
on the occasion of his
73rd birth anniversary
on Sunday as they paid
him respect and said
he was the “pillar” for
the party for about four
decades. Patel died on
November 25, 2020,
due to health issues ag-
gravated by Covid-19.P5
REMEMBRANCE
DEATH ANNIV OF
KALYAN SINGH
BIRTH ANNIV OF
AHMED PATEL
ANOTHER BLOW TO CONGRESS...
AFTER AZAD NOW ANAND
RESIGNS FROM TOP POST
Self-respect non-negotiable: Anand
Sharma quits as Himachal Congress
Steering Committee Chairman ahead of polls
Hours after being made chairman of
JK Congress campaign committee,
Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned on August 17
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: Days after
veteran Ghulam Nabi
Azad declined to accept
role of JK Congress
Campaign Committee
Chairman, senior lead-
er Anand Sharma on
Sunday resigned as
Chairman of Himachal
Congress Steering Com-
mittee, formed on April
26 ahead of state elec-
tions later this year.
Sharma, 69, in a letter to
Congress chief Sonia
Gandhi, cited instances
where he was not even
informed of key poll
strategy meetings in HP
said, “My self-respect
is non-negotiable.”
Sharma, however,
said in the letter that he
would campaign for
party candidates. The
former Union Minister
is embarking on a four
day tour of HP from
Tuesday to mobilise his
supporters.
NEW CONG CHIEF ELECTION: PARTY
TO STICK TO SEPT 20 SCHEDULE
New Delhi: The process for the election of Con-
gress president got underway on Sunday, with the
party’s election authority saying it would stick to the
schedule of electing a new chief by September 20.
Chairman of the party’s Central Election Authority
Madhusudan Mistry told that it was up to CWC to
approve the final date for the election of the Con-
gress chief, which could be any day between August
21 to September 20.
RSS working to make
India ‘model society’
for world: Bhagwat
New Delhi (ANI): The
RSS is working to awak-
en and unify the society
so that India can emerge
as a “model society” for
the entire world,” its
chief Mohan Bhagwat
saidonSunday
.Bhagwat
said people should come
forward in serving soci-
ety as a community and
not as an individual.
He was speaking at
an event organized by
RSS Delhi unit, on the
welfare activities car-
ried out by its workers.
RSS chief further
said many personalities
from different sections
of the society sacrificed
contributed to coun-
try’s Independence, but
“it took time for us to
flourish as one society”.
I have re-
signed with a
heavy heart
from the Chairmanship
of the Steering Com-
mittee of the Congress
for the Himachal Elec-
tions. Reiterating that I
am a lifelong con-
gressman and remain
firm on my convictions.
—Anand Sharma,
Former Union Minister
Work for society
without thinking
about individual
interests. We need to pri-
oritize us above ‘my and
mine’ while doing welfare
work and this will help us
evolve as a society.
—Mohan Bhagwat,
RSS Chief
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
addresses during discussion
programme organised by RSS
Delhi, in New Delhi on Sunday.
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MUMBAI l MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 107
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI MUMBAI
VIJAY SHEKHAR
RE-APPOINTED
AS Paytm MD
FOR FIVE YEARS
PAK MELODY QUEEN NOOR, ADORED BY MILLIONS, DIES
Karachi: Born in Guwahati, celebrated Pakistani singer Nayyara Noor,
adored by millions from both India and Pakistan, passed away after a
brief illness on Sunday, bringing curtains down on life of one of last
musical icons to represent shared culture of the India and Pakistan.
New Delhi: Shareholders of One97 Communications,
which operates under Paytm brand, have approved re-
appointment of Vijay Shekhar Sharma as MD and CEO
of firm, according to scrutinizer report filed on Sunday.
Over 99.67% majority votes were in favour of Sharma.
FREEBIES ARE
NEVER ‘FREE’:
RBI MEMBER
ASHIMA GOYAL
New Delhi: Freebies are never ‘free’ and when
political parties offer such schemes, they must
be required to make the financing and trade-offs
clear to voters, RBI Monetary Policy Committee
(MPC) Member Ashima Goyal said on Sunday.
Shah accuses KCR govt of
betraying people’s trust
Hyderabad (ANI): Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah on Sunday
accused the Telangana
government of betray-
ing the trust of the peo-
ple of the state, while
also calling the K Chan-
drashekar Rao govern-
ment “anti-farmer”.
“The joining of Raja-
gopal Reddy in the BJP
is the beginning of the
uprooting of KCR gov-
ernment. KCR govern-
ment betrayed the trust
of the Telangana peo-
ple. KCR government is
not celebrating Telan-
gana Liberation Day
due to fear of Majlis.
They promised that
they will celebrate Tel-
angana Liberation day
in September. However,
the KCR government
did not fulfil their
promise,” he said.
Shah accused Telan-
gana govt of breaking
the promise of selecting
a Dalit as CM and said
that a member from the
community will not be
selected for the top post.
Amit Shah addresses public meet, says BJP win in
Munugode bypoll will herald downfall of KCR govt
Union Home Minister Amit Shah waves to his supporters during a
public meeting, in Nalgonda on Sunday. —PHOTOS BY ANI
‘SHAHI’ MEETING WITH RAMOJI RAO!
Amit Shah meets film producer and founder of Ramoji
Group, Ramoji Rao during his visit to Ramoji Film City in
Hyderabad on Sunday. Following this meeting, Amit Shah
had dinner with Tollywood superstar Jr NTR at Novatel.
India’s $3 bn predator
drones deal with US
New Delhi (ANI): India
is in an advanced stage
of negotiations with the
US to procure 30 MQ-9B
Predator armed drones
at a cost of over USD 3
billion to crank up its
overall surveillance ap-
paratus along the Line
of Actual Control (LAC)
with China and in the
Indian Ocean, people fa-
miliar with the develop-
ment said on Sunday
.
The long-endurance-
hunter-killer drones are
being procured for the
three services as they
can carry out a variety
of roles including mari-
time surveillance, anti-
submarine warfare,
over-the-horizon target-
ing and hitting station-
ary ground targets.
GALWAN ISSUE NOT
FIXED: JAISHANKAR
China has disregarded its
border pacts with India and
the Galwan Valley standoff
has been casting a shadow
on the already strained ties
between the two nations,
external affairs minister S
Jaishankar said on Sunday.

NEWS
MUMBAI | MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2022
02
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Undertrial cuts
cake inside
police van;
probe launched
First India Bureau
Thane: A video show-
ing an undertrial cut-
ting a birthday cake
inside a police van
when he was brought
to court for a hearing
in Kalyan of Thane
district went viral on
social media, prompt-
ing police to begin an
inquiry, an official
said on Sunday.
Roshan Jha from Ul-
hasnagar celebrated his
birthday by cutting a
cake, which his friends
passed to him through
the window of the po-
liceescortvanstationed
near the court premis-
es, he said.
HC orders Borivli society to demolish all buildings
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Following a
major mishap in Bo-
rivli on Friday, when
a four-story residen-
tial building collapsed
like a house of cards,
the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corpora-
tion (BMC) ap-
proached the Bombay
high court, which or-
dered residents to de-
molish the complex’s
remaining three
wings within 24
hours.
The ‘A wing’ of Om
Shree Geetanjali Nagar
Society in Sai Baba Na-
gar collapsed around 01
pm on August 19.
Five families were
staying in the wing, but
when they discovered
large cracks in the
walls, they rushed out.
Nobody was injured in
the incident.
The civic body listed
all the four wings in the
C1 category of dilapi-
dated buildings in 2020,
but a few members had
got a court stay
.
After the incident,
the BMC approached
the high court.
In a hearing on Satur-
day, the High Court or-
dered the residents to
demolish all three
wings within 24 hours.
“All three wings were
vacated. The BMC ar-
ranged a stay at the
nearby school for those
who couldn’t get anoth-
er accommodation im-
mediately
. We sealed the
premises and as per the
HC’s order if the resi-
dents can’t demolish it
within a day, we will do
it on Monday,” said
Nivrutti Gondhali, As-
sistant Commissioner
of R Central Ward.
Chandrakant Orle-
kar, former secretary of
the society said that
they will request the
BMC to undertake the
demolition. “We will de-
cide after discussing it
with the members of
the society
,” he said.
Skeletal remains of the dilapidated and vacant Gitanjali Building after its collapse, at Borivali area in Mumbai. — PHOTO BY PTI
The ‘A wing’
of Om Shree
Geetanjali Nagar
Society in Sai
Baba Nagar
collapsed on
August 19
Aides mistreat
villagers, BJP
leader apologizes
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Facing flak
for his supporters’
bad behaviour, Maha-
rashtra BJP leader
and Union Minister
Narayan Rane’s son
Nilesh Rane on Sun-
day apologized to the
people of Ratnagiri,
who have been pro-
testing against the
proposed oil refinery
in the district.
Nilesh Rane visited
Barsu village in Ra-
japur tehsil during the
day to support an ongo-
ing survey for the pro-
posed oil refinery pro-
ject in the area.
Ahead of the visit,
villagers staged a pro-
test against officials
who came for the sur-
vey, while Rane’s sup-
porters gathered at the
site and allegedly ver-
bally abused the protest-
ers, including women.
The BJP leader later
apologized to the villag-
ers for the misbehav-
iour of his supporters.
Locals from Barsu
and surrounding vil-
lages have been protest-
ing against the $60 bil-
lion project, which was
earlier planned at Na-
nar village in the same
district, but there was
opposition from local
groups and the Shiv
Sena at the time.
Nilesh Rane’s
supporters had
allegedly verbally
abused villagers,
including women,
who staged a
protest against
proposed oil refinery
Min calls for fire
auditforindustries
in Dombivli area
First India Bureau
Thane: State Public
Works Minister
Ravindra Chavan on
Sunday called for
fire audits at facto-
ries in the Dombivli
MIDC area in Thane
district.
He was speaking at
a ceremony during
the inauguration of
the emergency con-
trol room and emer-
gency van projects
undertaken by the
Kalyan Ambernath
Manufacturers Asso-
ciation (KAMA).
Chavan highlight-
ed that incidents of
fire had been report-
ed in the Dombivli
industrial area and
there was a move to
shift factories out of
the area.
“More than 50,000
people depend on in-
dustries in the area in
some form or the oth-
er. If 100% fire audit
is conducted at all
industries, such ac-
cidents can be avoid-
ed and there will be
no question of shift-
ing factories,” the
minister said.
Chavan lauded KA-
MA’s initiative to set
up the most modern
control room and pro-
vide a van for emer-
gency services.
More than
50,000
people de-
pend on industries
in the area in some
form or the other. If
100% fire audit is
conducted at all in-
dustries, such acci-
dents can be avoid-
ed and there will be
no question of shift-
ing factories.
—Ravindra Chavan,
Public Works Minister
Maharashtra’s
Maharashtra’s
industrial areas
industrial areas
have reported
have reported
several instances
several instances
of fires in recent
of fires in recent
times.
times.
—FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
Maha’s Chhagan, Andhra’s Kavitha win Mumbai Half Marathon
GREAT RUN
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Mum-
bai Half Marathon
2022, that was flagged
on Sunday at the Ban-
dra Kurla Complex
witnessed Chhagan
Bombale of Maha-
rasthra and Andhra
Pradesh’s Kavitha
Reddy grabbing the
numero uno spot
Bombale stood first
among all the contend-
ers who took part in the
21K event that started
and ended at the Jio
Gardens and completed
the run in 1:16:11. One
by one, he overcame his
challengers one by one
and was followed by
Bhagatsing Valvi, who
finished the run in
1:17:51. The third posi-
tion went to Anil Jindal
who completed the run
in 1:18:20.
The women’s event
was also a one-sided af-
fair as Kavitha Reddy
opened up a decent gap
against the chasing
pack and breasted the
tape in 1:37:03, leaving
her nearest rival Tan-
maya Karmarkar over
three minutes behind at
1:40:18.
Ketaki was third in
the women’s event and
completed her round
in 1:44:55.
“Last two years have
been challenging for
everybody because of
the pandemic, but I am
really happy to see
many contenders lining
up for the city’s biggest
run since then,” Ten-
dulkar said, while inter-
acting with the media.
Men’s 10k was one of
the most talked about
events of the day as it
saw neck and neck
battle between the lead-
ing pack of runners be-
fore ending in a thrill-
ing climax.
Amit Mali crossed
the finish line in 0:33:42,
just a couple of seconds
ahead of Karan Shar-
ma, who was timed at
0:33:44. Sanjay Zakane
claimed the third spot
in 0:33:50. Sanjay Za-
kane claimed the third
spot in 00:33:50.
A tough race against
time was also witnessed
in the women’s 10k
event, where Rohini
Maya Patil completed
the run in 00:41:32 to
grab the top slot. Pri-
yanka Paikarao settled
for silver and finished
her race in 00:42:26. Pri-
yanka Kalilash won the
bronze and completed
the run in 00:43:51.
The event, organised
by NEB Sports wit-
nessedasmanyas13,500
runners from all walks
of life in three different
categories of the half
marathon timed 21K,
10K and 5K.
lll
Bombale
finished the
21K run
with a time
of 1:16:11,
while Reddy
dominated
the women’s
event,
finishing with
a time
of 1:37:03
Title winners of 21K category: Bombale and Reddy being feted by
cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai on Sunday.
WOMEN POWER
`60L compensation to kin of
forest guard killed in mishap
First India Bureau
Thane: A Lok Adalat
in Palghar district has
facilitated settlement
of a compensation of
Rs60 lakh to the fam-
ily of a forest guard
killed in a road acci-
dent in 2016.
The claimants and
the offending vehicle’s
insurance company
reached the settlement
on August 13 before dis-
trict judge AS Pratini-
dhi. A copy of the order
was made available on
August 20. The claim-
ants had submitted be-
fore the Motor Accident
Claims Tribunal
(MACT) that the de-
ceased, Ravindra Daga
Chitte (35), worked as a
forest guard and earned
a salary of Rs40,000 per
month.
On May 19, 2016, he
was proceeding to his
workplace on a motor-
bike when a dumper
coming from the oppo-
site direction collided
with his two-wheeler
near Deokop village on
Palghar Manor road.
Chitte received severe
injuries and died while
undergoing treatment
at a hospital, the claim-
ants, including his wife,
two children and par-
ents, told the MACT.
They sought a com-
pensation of Rs1 crore
and also said they had
spent Rs50,000 for trans-
porting the body and on
funeral expenses.
Protest heldnearCM’shouseagainst
Metro car shed proposed at Aarey
First India Bureau
Thane: Activists of the
Maharashtra Con-
gress’ environment
cell protested near
Chief MinisterEknath
Shinde’s bungalow in
Thane city on Sunday
against a Metro car
shed proposed at Aar-
ey Colony in neigh-
bouring Mumbai.
The activists, led by
Sameer Vartak—re-
gional president of the
Maharashtra Pradesh
Congress Committee’s
environment cell—
were stopped at Cad-
bury junction, about
250 m away from the
CM’s residence.
Protesters, including
women, carried plac-
ards and banners with
messages such as “Save
Aarey”, and shouted
slogans against the
Eknath Shinde-led Ma-
harashtra government.
According to a police
official, 25 protesters
were taken to Wagle Es-
tate police station, but
no one was detained.
Security outside the
CM’s residence in
Thane was stepped up.
Environmentalists
have been protesting
against the Metro-3 car
shed project, which the
new Shinde-led govern-
ment has proposed relo-
cating to Mumbai’s
Aarey forest, a 1,800-
acre area known as the
city’s “green lung.”
Maharashtra Deputy
Chief Minister Deven-
dra Fadnavis recently
directed state Advocate
General and the admin-
istration to submit a
proposal on building
the car shed in Aarey
Colony, instead of Kan-
jurmarg, which was
chosen by the previous
Uddhav Thackeray-led
government.
Republican Sena chief Anandraj Ambedkar with party workers
during a protest against construction of Metro car shed in Aarey
forest area, in Mumbai, on Sunday. — PHOTO BY PTI
Nilesh Rane
His family sought a
compensation of
`1 crore and also
said they had spent
`50K for transporting
the body and on
funeral expenses.
All three wings were vacated. The Bri-
hanmumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC) arranged a stay at the nearby
school for those who couldn’t get another ac-
commodation immediately. We sealed the
premises and as per the High Court’s order if
the residents can’t demolish it within a day, we
will do it on Monday.”
—Nivrutti Gondhali,
Assistant Commissioner of R Central Ward

First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Shahu
Nagar police have
booked a 35-year-old
woman and her par-
amour for alleged
sodomy of the for-
mer’s nine-year-old
son at their Mahim
home.
According to the
First Information Re-
port, the paramour at-
tempted to sodomize
the child while the
mother encouraged
him (FIR). No arrests
have been made yet in
the case.
The incident took
place before March
this year when the vic-
tim’s father—who is
the complainant in
the case— was away
and the child was with
his mother and her
lover.
As per the father’s
statement, his son told
him that he saw the
two having sexual in-
tercourse. After dis-
covering that the child
was watching them,
the lover allegedly
tried to sodomize the
child, the police said.
The woman had left
her husband a few
months ago and relo-
cated to West Bengal
with two of her chil-
dren. Their nine-year-
old son remained with
his father. It was dur-
ing this time that the
child told his father
about the incident.
On August 13, the
father made a written
complaint to the Sha-
hu Nagar police, and
the police referred the
case to the Child Wel-
fare Committee
(CWC).
The committee
then took the boy’s
detailed statement,
and ordered the po-
lice to register an of-
fence. Based on the
complaint, the Sha-
hu Nagar police on
Thursday registered
an offence under
Section 377 (unnatu-
ral sex), 511 (at-
tempting to commit
offences punishable
with imprisonment)
and 34 (common in-
tention).
First India Bureau
Osmanabad: Twelve
mentally challenged
girls living in a care
home in Osmanabad
district of Maharash-
tra have learnt and
mastered the art of
making beautiful
Ganesha idols and
look forward to sell
their products in the
market in the upcom-
ing Ganpati festival.
The move is expected
to improve the quality
of living of girls who
have been motivated by
the initiative taken by
‘Swadhar’ care home
located in Alni village
of Osmanabad.
‘Swadhar’ is home to
110 mentally disabled
girls, who have been
brought in an ailing
state and are bed rid-
den, said Shahji
Chavan, the care taker
of the care home.
“The girls have been
brought from big cities
such as Pune and Mum-
bai and are mentally
disabled and autistic. 30
of them are not even
able to communicate
their urge to go to the
toilet,” he said.
With consistent ef-
forts, they have now
started studying and 60
of them are now liter-
ate, he said.
“While we were try-
ing to find out their
area of interest and tal-
ent, we decided to en-
gage them in different
activities and found
that 12 of them were
good at moulding clay
and mud. With consist-
ent guidance and train-
ing, they started mak-
ing the idols of Lord
Ganesh,” Chavan said.
Making body parts
out of mud and attach-
ing them properly are
not easy tasks. With
time, these girls have
started learning and
have been skilled
enough to paint the
idols on their own, in-
formed Chavan.
Two persons are
training these girls in
the art of making idols,
he added.
“We have been trying
to make 400 idols every
year, but only half of
them reach the markets
during the festival,”
said Chavan.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: In a major
breakthrough, the
Narcotics Control Bu-
reau (NCB) has bust-
ed an inter-state car-
tel involved in smug-
gling banned codeine-
based cough syrup
(CBCS) by arresting
five persons and
seized contraband
worth Rs50 lakh, an
official said on Sun-
day.
Acting on a tip-off,
the NCB’s Mumbai zon-
al unit initiated an op-
eration against the car-
tel on Friday, he said.
According to a re-
lease issued by the
NCB, the CBCS con-
signments were origi-
nally diverted from
Varanasi in Uttar
Pradesh and booked on
fake addresses and
forged documents from
Mughalsarai in the
northern state to Pune.
The consignments were
being received at Pune
railway station and
then dispatched to
Mumbai at different lo-
cations to local traffick-
ers and then to ped-
dlers, it said.
After continuous sur-
veillance, the NCB iden-
tified the key members
of the syndicate, their
roles, modus operandi,
financial trails and oth-
er details.
The kingpin of the
cartel, who also owns
medical shops in Mum-
bai, allegedly coordi-
nated the entire net-
work clandestinely, and
most of the syndicate
members were unaware
of his name, face, and
location. He allegedly
paid the Varanasi-based
supplier using hawala
and deposited cash
through his customers
to hide his identity, the
official said.
The NCB seized the
consignment of 1,152
CBCS bottles, which
were transported from
Pune to Mumbai and ar-
rested two persons, who
received the drug.
The probe agency
also conducted search-
es at various locations
in Mumbai and appre-
hended the kingpin
from Mahalaxmi area.
After this, NCB officials
intercepted another
member of the syndi-
cate at Pune railway
station when he arrived
there to receive a con-
signment from the rail-
way cargo and recov-
ered 5,184 bottles, the
official said.
During interroga-
tion, the accused re-
vealed that another il-
legal consignment was
in transit to Pune, fol-
lowing which the NCB
team seized 3,456 CBCS
bottles on Saturday
.
A probe team reached
Mughalsarai (Uttar
Pradesh) and appre-
hended a person in-
volved in booking ille-
gal consignments and
seized another 3,456
CBCS bottles at Pune
railway station on Sun-
day
.
MAHARASHTRA
03
First India Bureau
Pune: Three people
were killed and three
others were seriously
injured after their car
veered off the road
and fell 500 feet off a
cliff near the Tamhi-
ni ghat area on the
Pune-Mangaon road
Saturday afternoon.
The incident took
place around 04.30 pm.
The three injured were
rescued and the three
bodies were recovered
after a seven-hour
search and rescue op-
eration, officials said.
The deceased were
identified as Rishabh
Chavan (24), Krushna
Rathod (27) and Sau-
rabh Bhinge (25) and
the injured as Rohan
Gade (26), Praveen Sar-
kate (26) and Rohan
Chavan (22).
Officials from the
Raigad district police
said that the six people
from Washim district
of Maharashtra were
on their way to the
Devkund waterfalls in
Raigad district via
Pune in their car.
Inspector Rajendra
Patil, in-charge of Man-
gaon police station,
said, “Primary probe
suggests that near Kon-
dethar Sanaswadi vil-
lage, the driver of the
car applied brakes on a
slippery patch and
could not control it. The
vehicle veered off the
road and fell off a cliff.
Three people died and
three others sustained
critical injuries.”
The injured are being
treated at a local hospi-
tal in Mangaon.
NINE DAYS TO GO!
Devotees carry an idol of Lord Ganesh to install at a pandal for the upcoming Ganesh
Chaturthi festival, in Mumbai on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
CREATIVE BENCHMARK
Orphan girls with mental disabilities
make their mark with clay Ganesh idols
Caretakers at
Swadhar—a
home to 110
such girls, with
their efforts have
been successful
in spreading
literacy among
60 of the
First India Bureau
Palghar: A 25-year-
old man has been ar-
rested by the Palghar
police for allegedly
attempting to kill two
persons after a quar-
rel in Maharasthra’s
Palghar district, an
official said on Sun-
day.
The incident took
place at Dahanu area,
when a group was en-
joying drinks on Friday
.
When the accused
Nirmal Patel came over
there, some persons
asked him the reason as
to why they were not in-
vited for the preparato-
ry meetings for the up-
coming Ganesh Chatur-
thi festival in the area,
Sachin Navadkar, a po-
lice spokesperson said.
Frustrated Patel then
picked up an empty
beer bottle and attacked
two persons aged 33 and
35 respectively
.
The injured were
then rushed to a local
hospital where they are
being treated by the
doctors
Cops arrested the ac-
cused on Saturday and
a case under relevant
sections of Indian Pe-
nal Code for attempt to
murder was filed
against him.
8 DEAD, 1 MISSING IN 24 HOURS
NCB busts inter-state gang
selling banned cough syrup
Five persons arrested in operation, contraband worth `50L seized
The banned codeine-based cough syrup consignments were originally diverted
from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and booked on fake addresses and forged
documents from Mughalsarai in the northern state to Pune. The consignments
were being received at Pune railway station and then dispatched to Mumbai at
different locations to local traffickers and then to peddlers. After continuous
surveillance, the NCB identified the key members of the syndicate, their roles,
modus operandi, financial trails and various operational details.
HUGE NEXUS
Woman, lover booked
for sodomizing 9-yr-old
Man allegedly
tried to assault
the child after
discovering that
the boy had
seen them
having
intercourse
Man held for trying to
murder two in Palghar
THREE MEN DEAD AFTER CAR
FALLS OFF CLIFF NEAR PUNE
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Five
members of a fam-
ily drowned in a
pond in Nanded
district on Sunday,
after one of them
fell in while trying
to wash a tiffin
box, officials said.
The incident oc-
curred at around
2.45pm, when the
family--which had
gone to offer prayers
at Badi Dargah--was
having food near the
pond in the Navrang-
pura area under the
Kandhar police sta-
tion area.
One of the family
members went to
wash the tiffin box
and fell into the
pond. Two others
jumped in to save
him, but started
drowning as well. As
the trio cried for
help, the remaining
two also jumped into
the water to rescue
them but drowned,
the official stated,
adding that all five
bodies have been
fished out out from
the pond
Five of family drown
in a pond in Nanded
Mumbai: Four persons
were rescued after the
boat they were travelling
in capsized in the Arabian
Sea off the Bhatye coast
in Ratnagiri district on
Sunday, police said,
adding that a search
operation was still on for
the fifth person, who had
gone missing. The inci-
dent took place around
9.45 am. Police received
a distress call following
which they rushed to the
coast and started a rescue
operation with the help
of local disaster manage-
ment authority, the official
said.
FOUR PERSONS
RESCUED, ONE
MISSING AS
BOAT CAPSIZES

—
FILE
PHOTO

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 107
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: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
Respected Kalyan Singh ji fought
lifelong for the empowerment of
the poor and deprived sections. He
embodied good governance on the
ground by freeing Uttar Pradesh from
fear and crime. The life of Babuji, who
gave up the post of CM for Shri Ram
Mandir, is an inspiration for us. Tributes
to him on his death anniversary.
Hardeep Singh Puri
@HardeepSPuri
Our athletes continue their winning
run. Para shuttlers Pramod Bhagat
Sukant Kadam win Gold medal at the
Thailand Para Badminton International
Tournament.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
It is better to do nothing,
than to do what is wrong.
For whatever you do, you
do to yourself.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
CONG KEEPS TAKING
BLOWS FROM TOP
LEADERS WITH
AN AMAZING CALM
he Congress Party is
losing leaders at a
fairly rapid pace
while Rahul Gandhi
is taking his own
sweet time to decide whether he
should be anointed president.
His silence has left party leaders
wondering. In the meantime the
Congress has suffered one jolt
after another with Ghulam Nabi
Azad and Anand Sharma resign-
ing from posts chairman from
their respective campaign com-
mittees. In his resignation letter
Sharma said that he felt left out
from decision-making which
hurt his self-respect. Azad re-
signed purportedly on health
grounds but the real reason was
his dissatisfaction over Sonia
Gandhi’s choice of president for
the party’s Kashmir unit. Both
Azad and Sharma, like Kapil
Sibal, were part of the G-23
which was demanding that a
non-Gandhi should helm the
party. Other prominent leaders
who left the party in the recent
past included Hardik Patel, RPN
Singh, Sunil Jakhar and
Ashwani Kumar. Yet, it noncha-
lantly keeps taking these blows.
Why, only the Gandhis know.
TOP TWEETS
T
rom intending to
export one crore
tonnes of wheat
in 2022-23 to take
advantage of the
crisis arising out of the Rus-
sia-Ukraine war, India is now
looking at the prospect of
having to import wheat. The
dramatic change happened
between April, when India
spoke of “feeding the world”,
and August when heat waves
ravaged the crop. India was
looking to fill in for Ukraine,
one of the world’s biggest
wheat exporters, based on its
reserves and prospects of a
bumper crop. With the
Ukraine war disrupting the
supply chain, several coun-
tries looked towards India,
which supplies only 1 per-
cent globally, for their wheat
requirements. However, in
May the government banned
wheat export to keep the ris-
ing prices of the commodity
in check, but kept a small
window open to honour sup-
plies promised on May 13 and
earlier.
Not only has the extreme
weather condition hit the
crop production, but the
country’s wheat stock in the
Central pool at the beginning
of August was reported to be
26.6 million tonnes, its lowest
since August 2008. A CMIE
report attributed the “decline
in stock to a more than 56 per-
cent drop in procurement”.
Wheat inflation is already at
12 percent and the domestic
consumerisfeelingthepinch.
The government may thus
have to look at the import op-
tion along with a cut in im-
port duty to ease the situation
in the domestic market.
The end of the Ukraine
conflict is not in sight. Sup-
ply chains remain disrupted
and the wheat stock has de-
clined drastically
. These will
make efforts to keep inflation
within reasonable limits
difficult.
STARING AT
WHEAT SHORTAGE
THE END OF THE UKRAINE
CONFLICT IS NOT IN
SIGHT. SUPPLY CHAINS
REMAIN DISRUPTED
AND THE WHEAT
STOCK HAS DECLINED
DRASTICALLY. THESE
WILL MAKE EFFORTS TO
KEEP INFLATION WITHIN
REASONABLE LIMITS
DIFFICULT
F
y the late eighteenth century
,
England had lost all her for-
ests to the Industrial revolu-
tion: as such the demand for
timber for the Royal Armada
and the commercial ships
drew the colonial gaze to the
forests of India and Burma.
Asearlyas1806,theEastIndia
Company set up a ‘forest de-
partment’ and created create
a monopoly over teak from
the Malabar coast for ship
building activities. Over the
next three decades, the EIC
reserved forests of rosewood,
ebony and sandalwood for
their ‘exclusive ‘use. However
in other parts of the country
,
especially in Central and
North India, forests were
treated as wasteland which
didnotyieldanyrevenue,and
Commissioners and Collec-
tors encouraged the cutting
of trees to bring land under
the plough, for agriculture
operations yielded land reve-
nue. The legendary commis-
sioner of Kumaon, George
William Trail felt legitimate
pride in doubling the land
revenue from the Kuman
hills. This was also the period
when large tracts in Bengal
(which included Assam) and
Madras presidencies were
cleared for plantations of tea,
coffee, indigo and opium.
However the game chang-
er was the establishment of
railway lines. The first rail-
way line was established in
1853. In less than two dec-
ades, the railway network
grew from 32 km to 7,678 km,
and this required quality
sleepers made by the finest
trees of shorea robusta (Sal).
It was during this period that
Lord Dalhousie (1856) sought
the assistance of a German
officer Dr Dietrich Brandis
to organize the forest re-
sources of India and Bur-
mese territory. Dalhousie’s
successor, Lord Elgin in his
despatch to then Secretary
of State for India, Sir Charles
Wood wrote categorially that
forest should henceforth not
be treated as ‘wasteland’, but
classified as Special State
Domain. In 1863, Brandis
was appointed as the first
Inspector general of Forests,
and he helped draft the For-
estActof 1865,whichthough
amended in 1878 and 1927 set
the ground for the classifica-
tion of Forests into three
categories: Reserved, pro-
tected and village forests.
This led to some conflict
and resentment between
the forest administration and
revenue officials, especially
as in several revenue divi-
sions, as in Kumaon hills,
more than fifty percent area
was placed under forest. Be
that as it may the commercial
gains to be made from for-
estry, and the strategic im-
portance of laying railway
lines made it imperative for
the British Raj to organize
the Imperial Forest service,
and it should be placed on re-
cord that after the ICS, this
was the second All India ser-
vice to be constituted. The
year was 1867, and the first
selection to the Indian Impe-
rial Police were made twen-
ty-six years later – in 1893.
In 1869, FR Desai was the
first Indian to be selected for
the Forest service, and sent
for training to Germany. In
the first two decades, 95 offic-
ers were appointed, but given
the very harsh conditions of
service, and the prevalence
of malaria, the mortality rate
was very high: hence the first
mottos of the service were
Meloria Speramus. We hope
for a Better Future, and later
Mens Sana in Corpore Sano
Sound Mind in a Sound Body
.
Post-independence, the em-
blem of the Forest service is
Aranya Te Prithvi Syonmas-
tu ( )” The
Forest is Earth’s delight”.
To be continued...
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
B
We hope for a Better
Future, and later Mens
Sana in Corpore Sano
Sound Mind in a Sound
Body. Post-independence,
the emblem of the Forest
service is Aranya Te
Prithvi Syonmastu
( )”
The Forest is
Earth’s delight”.
RAJ DHARMA 16
FROM WASTELAND
TO EARTH’S DELIGHT!
The transformation of the Forest Department
SANJEEV CHOPRA
The writer superannuated as the Director of the
LBS National Academy of Administration,
India’s apex training institution, and curates
Valley of Words: An annual Literature and Arts
festival at Dehradun, where he currently resides
THIS COLUMN STRESSES ON THE DEPT OF
FOREST, ENVIRON AND CLIMATE CHANGE
After discussing Mission Karamyogi, a Prime Ministerial
initiative to create a continuous learning environment for
knowledge based governance, and a review of the Affordable
Housing Policy, Raj Dharma, a column exclusive to this paper
will take up the transformation of the Forest department from
a ‘supplier of timber for navy and rakes for railways’to the
department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change. Today,
the Forest officers acknowledge in addition to protection of
forests and wildlife, they have a silent role in ensuring climate
sustainability, as well in the livelihoods and entrepreneurship
opportunities of those who live within or in close proximity,
besides wildlife protection and reservation.
YOU READ RAJ DHARMA 15
ON AUGUST 8, 2022

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05
INDIA
Hyderabad: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah offered prayers at
Ujjaini Mahankali tem-
ple in Secunderabad
and visited the house of
a party worker on Sun-
day
. Soon after his ar-
rival at Begumpet Air-
port here for a day-long
visit to Telangana, he
went to temple offered
prayers.
Temple priests wel-
comed him and offered
him ‘prasadam’. He was
accompanied by the Un-
ionMinforTourismand
Culture G. Kishan Red-
dy, state BJP president
Bandi Sanjay and other
party leaders. Shah in-
teracted with BJP work-
er N. Satyanarayana
over tea. The worker
who served the party for
30 years. After spending
some time there, he left
for a hotel to meet some
farmers.
New Delhi (PTI): Bi-
har CM Nitish Kumar
could emerge as a
“strong candidate” for
prime minister in 2024
if opposition parties
agreed to consider him
for the job, RJD leader
Tejashwi Yadav said.
Kumar, who recently
swapped alliance part-
ners by dumping the
BJP and returning —
for a second time — to
RJD-led Mahagath-
bandhan in Bihar, en-
joys “immense good-
will” on the ground,
Yadav said in an inter-
view. The coming to
power of the Mahagath-
bandhan, which now
comprises the JD(U),
the RJD, the Congress
and several small par-
ties in Bihar, “augurs
well for opposition uni-
ty”, said Yadav who has
made a comeback as
Deputy CM in Bihar’s
new government.
“It signals that most
of the Opposition par-
ties recognise the larg-
er challenge before the
country — the hegemo-
ny of the BJP, where on
the back of money, me-
dia, and (administra-
tive) machinery power,
they are determined to
stamp out all diversity
from the Indian socie-
ty,” the RJD leader said.
Nitish Kumar could be ‘PM’ candidate: Tejashwi
ELECTION 2024
lll
Tejashwi Yadav
said CM Nitish
Kumar, “He
(Kumar) has
more than 37
years of vast
parliamentary
experience and
enjoys immense
goodwill.”
New Delhi: Congress
veteran Ahmed Patel
was remembered by
party leaders on Sun-
day on the occasion of
his 73rd birth anniver-
sary as they paid him
tributes and said he was
the “pillar” for the par-
ty for about 4 decades.
Patel - who was said to
be close to Gandhis-
died on Nov 25, 2020,
due to health issues ag-
gravated by Covid.
Extending tributes,
party leader Mallikar-
jun Kharge said that
Patel was a “dedicated
Congress person whose
leadership, guidance,
immense political
knowledge, and sim-
plicity shall always re-
main in our hearts”.
“My humble tributes
to senior Congress lead-
er Ahmed Patel on his
birth anniversary
. A tall
figure dedicated Con-
gress person whose
leadership, guidance,
and simplicity shall al-
ways remain in our
hearts,” the RS leader
wrote on Twitter.
’Pillar of Cong for 4 decades’
On Ahmed Patel’s 73rd birth anniversary, Congress leaders paid him tributes
Remembering Ahmed Patel on his 73rd birth anniversary.
Jairam Ramesh
@Jairam_Ramesh
Today is Ahmed
Patel’s 73rd birth
anniversary. He was a
pillar of the Congress
organisation for
almost four decades
and is missed every
single day by the
party. Indian public
life is poorer by his
absence.
PARTYLOYALISTUNDERCONSIDERATION
New Delhi: As the
Cong prepares to elect
its new chief, many
names are under con-
sideration after Rahul
Gandhi refused to give
a second thought. The
names doing the rounds
are loyalists from the
party, which include
Ambika Soni, Mukul
Wasnik and Kumari
Selja. Another name
doing rounds is that of
Rajasthan CM Ashok
Gehlot and Chhattisgarh
CM Bhupesh Baghel,
Mallikarjun Kharge and
Meira Kumar are also in
consideration.
CONG TO HOLD
MEET FOR BHARAT
JODO YATRA
CONG DEMANDS
DELETION OF 18-
20L FAKE VOTERS
New Delhi: Cong has
called a meeting of senior
leaders at the
party headquar-
ters on August
23 to deliberate
on the Bharat
Jodo Yatra, said sources.
Cong plans to embark on
‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from
Kanyakumari on Sept 7
under leadership of party
leader Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhinagar: Senior
Cong leaders from Gujarat
have alleged that there
are at least 18 to 20 lakh
duplicate voters exist-
ing in the electoral list of
state. These duplicate vot-
ers misuse the elections.
Congress Legislative
Party whip C.J. Chavda
said Election Commission
should ensure that du-
plicate voters are deleted
from the voters’ list.
ShahvisitsBJPworker’s
housein Secunderabad
A large number of
BJP workers
gathered to
welcome Amit Shah
Amit Shah with G Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay Kumar meet
farmer leaders at Begumpet on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Vijayawada: Union
Sports Youth Affairs
Minister Anurag Thakur
believes that a good gov-
ernment should come in
Andhra Pradesh. Union
Minister Anurag Thakur
arrived here to partici-
pate in the closing meet-
ing of Bharatiya Janata
Yuva Morcha (BJYM)
and visited Vijayawada
Kanakadurgamma. The
temple officials gave
a warm welcome to
Thakur.Later, Anurag
Thakur told media that
there is a need for a
good government in AP.
He criticised then Telugu
Desam Party and current
YSR Congress govern-
ment for causing serious
problems to the people.
He expressed confidence
that an accountable govt
and that would provide
administration in the
interest of people would
soon come in AP. He
said once BJP comes
to power in state, it
will provide jobs and
employment to youth.
ANURAG THAKUR PARTICIPATES IN
BJYM MEETING, TAKES DIG AT AP GOVT
JD(U) NATIONAL
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
TO MEET ON SEPT 3, 4
New Delhi (PTI): JD(U)
general secretary Afaque
Ahmed Khan said that
organisational issues and
membership drive will be
discussed over the two
days. Janata Dal (United)
will hold its national ex-
ecutive and national coun-
cil meetings in Patna on
September 3 and 4, amid
buzz that Nitish Kumar
could emerge as the Op-
position’s PM candidate.
Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav. —FILE PHOTO
Yogi unveils Kalyan Singh’s statue and
remembers him on his 1st death anniv
Lucknow: UP CM Yogi
Adityanath on Sunday,
unveiled a 12-feet
bronze statue of for-
mer CM and Rajasthan
Governor, Kalyan Sin-
gh, at the Cancer Insti-
tute in Lucknow on the
occasion of the latter’s
first death anniversary.
Yogi recalled the role
of late Kalyan Singh in
the Ram temple move-
ment. He said that the
foundation of the
grand Ram temple of
Ayodhya was laid un-
der the leadership of
late Kalyan Singh. His
contribution in the
construction of Ram
temple and develop-
ment of the state will
never be forgotten.
He said that a grand
statue of Late Kalyan
Singh would also be in-
stalled in King George’s
Medical University.
Kalyan Singh passed
away on August 21 last
year following a pro-
longed illness. The
Cancer Institute of
Lucknow is named af-
ter him.
Yogi Adityanath poses for a picture with Brajesh Pathak, Keshav
Prasad Maurya, Swatantra Dev Singh and others at the statue
unveiling of former State Chief Minister Kalyan Singh on his
death anniversary, at Kalyan Singh Super Speciality Cancer
Institute and Hospital. —PHOTO BY ANI
MEHBOOBA MUFTI
PLACED UNDER
HOUSE ARREST
2 KILLED AFTER
ELECTRICITY CABLE
FALLS ON THEM
New Delhi: Former JK
chief minister Mehbooba
Mufti on Sunday said
she has been placed
under house arrest at her
official residence in JK’s
Srinagar. She reacted to
her house arrest on Twitter
and said, “The same
administration claims that
locking us up is for our
own security while they
themselves visit every nook
and corner.” Mufti said she
was planning to pay a visit
to Sunil Kumar’s family.
Badaun: Two men were
killed and a child was
injured after a high-tension
electricity cable fell on
them on the Kakrala-Alapur
road on Sunday, police
said. Kaisar Ali (55) and
Sakir Ali (58), both farm-
ers, were on their way on
a motorcycle to field, when
the electricity cable fell on
them, killing them instantly,
said police. Angry locals
claimed the accident took
place due to laxity on the
part of power department
officials.
SHANKERSINH
VAGHELA LAUNCHES
NEW PARTY
MIZORAM CM’S
APOLOGIES FOR
DAUGHTER’S ACT
Gandhinagar: Veteran pol-
itician and former Gujarat
chief minister Shankersinh
Vaghela on Sunday floated
a new party, Praja Shakti
Democratic Party. His party
will contest the upcoming
assembly elections in Gu-
jarat. Declaring his intent
about his re-entry into
electoral politics, Vaghela
said, “People are looking
for BJP’s alternative. For
me doors of BJP, Congress
and AAP are closed, so
launched new party.”
Mizoram: CM of Mizoram,
Zoramthanga, tendered an
apology on his Instagram
handle on Saturday after
he faced criticism over his
daughter’s “misbehaviour”
with a doctor earlier in the
week. The leader in his
post said that he would, in
no way, justify her conduct.
Milari Chhangte, the CM’s
only daughter, was recently
seen hitting a doctor at
a clinic in a purported
video clip that went viral on
social media. Incident has
sparked outrage.
CRUCIAL READ
TDP LEADER NARA LOKESH STOPPED BY
POLICE DUE TO “LAW AND ORDER ISSUE”
Srikakulam (ANI): Telugu Desam Party (TDP) nation-
al general secretary Nara Lokesh was stopped by
Srikakulam Police for violating law order on the
Srikakulam highway. He was on his way to Palasa
after departing from Visakhapatnam Airport for a
trip to the Srikakulam when police stopped him on
the highway close to Srikakulam. Police said he was
stopped because of law and order issues. Subse-
quently, TDP activists staged an agitation.
GIVE FINANCIAL
HELP TO AP, CJI
TO CENTRE
WELFARE SCHEMES
CAN’T BE TERMED
‘FREEBIES’: DMK
Amaravati (PTI): The
Centre should extend
liberal financial assistance
to Andhra Pradesh as the
State suffered due to its
bifurcation, Chief Justice
of India Justice Nuth-
alapati Venkata Ramana
said here on Saturday.
“There is a feeling of
anguish among people
that the State has been
pushed backwards in
terms of finances upon
bifurcation. The Centre
should extend financial
support,” the Chief Jus-
tice of India said.
New Delhi (PTI): Welfare
schemes provide uplift
of weaker sections and
cannot be described as
“freebies”, the DMK has
told the SC. Opposing the
plea filed by lawyer Ash-
wini Upadhyay seeking
action against political
parties for promising free-
bies during elections, the
DMK said the petition is
“politically motivated” as
the petitioner belongs to a
political party which was
locked in a political battle
during Punjab elections at
time of filing this PIL.
IN THE COURTYARD
Thiruvananthapuram:
Central intelligence
agencies have com-
menced a probe after an
article in the IS mouth-
piece ‘Voice of Kohar-
asan’ mentioned that
‘the first Indian suicide
bomber for them was a
Keralite who had con-
verted from Christiani-
ty to Islam.
In the latest issue of
the magazine, the arti-
cle about the suicide
bomber is in the chap-
ter ‘Memories of Shu-
hada’, a portion dedi-
cated to the memories
of those who died fight-
ing for IS.
The article did not,
however, mention the
exact identity of the
youth. It dwells that he
was an engineering
graduate from Kerala
who had worked in Ben-
galuru as an engineer
and later migrated to
Dubai. The article fur-
ther states that the
youth had assumed the
name, ‘Aboobacker Al-
Hindi’. He got attracted
to the ideology of Jihad
and contacted the IS
sleeper cells in Dubai.
First Indian suicide
bomber was Keralite
Lucknow: An inquiry
committee has been
constituted to research
the incident associated
to the dying two indi-
viduals as a conse-
quence of “suffocation”
in Mathura’s Banke Bi-
hari temple on Krishna
Janmashtami on Au-
gust 19-20.
Two individuals died
of “suffocation” and 7
have been injured
throughout the Jan-
mashtami celebrations
on the Banke Bihari
temple.
The committee will
probe into the circum-
stances which led to the
unlucky incident on the
temple and submit a re-
port inside 15 days.
UP authorities issued
a discover on this re-
gard on Saturday, say-
ing a committee was
shaped to research the
explanations behind
the incident and recom-
mend corrections and
enhancements required
on the temple premises
to handle the massive
rush of devotees higher
to keep away from such
mishaps in future.
The round addition-
ally talked about offic-
ers who will represent
the committee and con-
duct the investigation.
Will probably be headed
by Sulkhan Singh, for-
mer IPS officer.
Mathura temple incident: Probe
panel to submit report in 15 days
Devotees gather at Banke
Bihari Temple. —FILE PHOTO
Ashok Gehlot Mallikarjun Kharge Bhupesh Baghel
‘AMRIT’ RELAY
A relay Long Range Patrol ‘Amrit’ is being conducted by ITBP personnel, in Uttarkashi
on Sunday. The relay LRP started from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh on August 1 and will
terminate at Jechap La in Arunachal Pradesh on October 14 after completing a 75-day
journey covering a distance of approx 7,575 Km.. —PHOTO BY ANI

INDIA
06
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
New Delhi (ANI): Med-
ical professional has
called “Tomato fever” a
misleading colloquial
name for hand, foot and
mouth Disease.
According to Dr Ra-
jeev Jayadevan, co-
chairman of IMA’s Na-
tional task force on
COVID-19 said, “Tomato
fever is a misleading col-
loquial name for hand,
foot and mouth disease.
This is a mild viral ill-
ness commonly affect-
ing young children typi-
cally below age 10. It is
usually caused by a Cox-
sackie virus.”
He further explained,
“It produces red spots
on the skin, and hence
someone called it Toma-
to fever, and the name
became popular. But us-
ing such terms is mis-
leading because many
people mistakenly be-
lieve it comes from to-
matoes.”
“Past few days some
publications started
emerging from Kerela
regarding a new en-
demic disease by the
name of tomato fever.
The community is just
recovering from seri-
ous Covid therefore
very sensitive and re-
ceptive to new endem-
ics. Additionally, this
type of news creates
panic. It’s important to
check facts,” said Dr
Dhiren Gupta, Senior
Consultant, Sir Ganga-
ram hospital.
“It looks like it’s a
form of hand, foot,
mouth disease with ad-
ditional symptoms of
joint pains and high-
grade fever. Anyway
hand foot mouth dis-
ease itself is a syn-
drome which can be
caused by different en-
teroviruses. Symptoms
vary from type of virus,
age group and immu-
nity of the patient. In
general, it’s not life-
threatening in the gen-
eral population,” he
said.
‘Tomato fever’ is a misnomer, say experts
50DEADASRAINWREAKSHAVOC
New Delhi (Agencies):
Dozens of people have
been killed and many
are feared dead in flash
floods and landslides
triggered by intense
monsoon rains in north-
ern and eastern India
over the past three days.
Sources said at least 50
people have died in
Himachal Pradesh, Utt-
arakhand and Odisha
over the last three days.
The rains lashed hun-
dreds of villages, swept
away mud houses, flood-
ed roads and destroyed
bridges in some parts of
Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand. IMD pre-
dicted that heavy to very
heavy rain would con-
tinuetofallintheregion
for the next two days.
As many as 22 people
were killed and 12 in-
jured in rain-related in-
cidents on Saturday in
the state. The maximum
damage was reported
from Mandi, Kangra
and Chamba districts.
In Odisha, six people
were dead amid torren-
tial rains. Floods have
affected 8 lakh people
and displaced thou-
sands from their homes.
In Jharkhand’s Ram-
garh district, five people
were swept away by the
swollen Nalkari river.
A tractor washed away after a river overflows due to incessant rainfall, in Poonch on Sunday.
5 MISSING IN HP
FLASH FLOODS
STILL UNTRACEABLE
RAIN DEFICIT IN
64 UP DISTRICTS,
FARMERS AGHAST
ZOMATO APOLOGY
AFTER ROW OVER
MAHAKAL AD
JNU MAY SET UP
CENTRE TO STUDY
1947 PARTITION
Flash floods triggered by torrential rains, cloudbursts
landslides have crippled life in HP, Odisha, Jharkhand
ODISHA EVACUATES
PEOPLE FROM
LOW-LYING AREAS
Shimla: Five people miss-
ing after flash floods and
landslides in Himachal
Pradesh remained untrace-
able on Sunday, a senior
official said. State Disaster
Management Department
director Sudesh Kumar
Mokhta said the five people
who went missing after a
flash flood in Baghi nullah
on the Mandi-Katola-
Prashar road in Mandi are
still untraceable, he added.
Several families fled their
homes located between
Baghi and Old Katola after
a cloudburst and took
shelter at safer places.
Lucknow: Sixty-four
districts in Uttar
Pradesh have received
below normal rains this
monsoon, with several
staring at drought-like
conditions. According
to IMD, only 11 of the
75 UP districts have
received normal rainfall.
While officials say rain in
coming days will bridge
the deficit, farmers fear
it is already late. “Our
crop is getting damaged.
What will rain do later,”
asked Bhagat Pal, a
small paddy farmer.
New Delhi: Follow-
ing the row over an
advertisement refering
to Mahakal, online food
delivery firm Zomato
issued an apology stat-
ing it had no intention
to hurt sentiments. In a
statement, it said thali is
a recommended item on
the menu of Ujjain’s Ma-
hakal Restaurant and not
the revered Mahakalesh-
war Temple. The ad is
no longer running.
New Delhi: Jawaharlal
Nehru University (JNU)
is planning to set up
a centre to study the
1947 partition in depth
to fill the historical
gaps, Vice-Chancellor
Santishree Dhulipudi
Pandit said on Sunday.
The university will send
a proposal in this regard
to the University Grants
Commission (UGC) and
the Ministry of Educa-
tion (MoE).
Bhubaneswar: The district
administration of Odisha’s
Balasore and Mayurbhanj
has launched a massive
evacuation drive in low-
lying areas, as it gears up
to combat flooding in the
Subarnarekha and Baitarani
river systems, officials
said Sunday. The state
is already reeling under
the impact of a medium
flood in the Mahanadi river
system following incessant
rainfall, which has affected
above seven lakh people, of
whom nearly 5 lakh are still
marooned in 763 villages,
they said.
J’khand: 3 killed in rain-related mishaps
Ranchi: Three persons
lost their lives in
Jharkhand amid heavy
rain and strong winds
that lashed several dis-
tricts of the state, in-
undating low-lying ar-
eas and uprooting trees
and electricity poles,
officials said.
A woman died when
a mud wall of her
house collapsed in
West Singhbhum dis-
trict, as a deep depres-
sion over the Bay of
Bengal brought tor-
rential rainfall in var-
ious parts of the state,
they said. Two per-
sons drowned in Ram-
garh district and two
more went missing
when their vehicles
fell into the swollen
Nalkari river, and
were swept away by
the strong current,
the officials said. Nor-
mal life was thrown
out of gear with rain
disrupting power sup-
ply in many areas for
long hours and caus-
ing traffic jams in ma-
jor cities. Damage to
properties due to the
downpour along with
high-speed winds was
reported from Sarai-
kela-Kharswan, East
Singhbhum, West Sin-
ghbhum and Ranchi,
they said.
Floodwater enters a school in Jharkhand on Sunday.
The disease produces red spots on the skin, which led to its name.
A massive rally was or-
ganised in Noida, in
support of Shrikant
Tyagi, the politician
who was filmed abusing
and assaulting a wom-
an a few days ago.
Slogans raised at the
panchayat, organised
by the Tyagi communi-
ty, condemned local
BJP MP Mahesh Shar-
ma, who had said the
politician was not a
member of the ruling
party. The community
is believed to be unhap-
py with the Gautam
Buddh Nagar MP over
his alleged use of de-
rogatory words against
the community. Mr
Sharma, however, has
denied making any
such remarks.
Residents of the
Grand Omaxe Society,
where the incident had
taken place earlier this
month, staged a silent
protest and put up post-
ers. While posters at
the rally linked the is-
sue with the Tyagi com-
munity’s respect, the
ones at the society read
“United residents
against injustice”. “We
say no to - injustice, op-
pression, humiliation
of women, and abuses,
and encroachment,”
the posters at the soci-
ety said.
The gathering organ-
ised by the Sanyukt
Tyagi Swabhiman Mor-
cha in support of Shri-
kant Tyagi began
around 10 am at Ramli-
la ground in Gejha vil-
lage. The rally was at-
tended by hundreds of
Tyagi community mem-
bers from various parts
of western UP.
Slogans slam BJP MP at Noida meet for Tyagi
Priest condemns Zomato’s ‘thali’
ad featuring Hrithik Roshan
25%extraseats,noentrancetest
forforeignstudents:UGC’splan
Members of Tyagi community at the mahapanchayat on Sunday.
Ujjain (ANI): Priests
and devotees of Ujjain’s
Shree Mahakaleshwar
Temple demanded im-
mediate withdrawal of
food aggregator Zoma-
to’s advertisement fea-
turing actor Hrithik
Roshan in which the ac-
tor was seen ordering
food from ‘Mahakal’
when he felt like having
a ‘thali’.
“Mahakal temple
does not deliver any
thali. Zomato and
Hrithik Roshan must
apologize on this ad,”
said priest Mahesh
Sharma.
“The company has
mademisleadingpublic-
ity about the Mahakal
temple in its advertise-
ment. The company
should think before is-
suing such advertise-
ments,” Sharma said,
adding that the ad hurt
religious sentiments.
Prasad is served to
the devotees on a plate,
but there is no provision
for delivery if anyone
asks for it, the priest
added.
Chandigarh (ANI):
The Punjab government
on Sunday announced
reservation for the
ScheduledCasteinposts
of law officers recruited
bythestategovernment.
Chief Minister Bhag-
want Mann said 58 new
posts of law officers be-
ing created in the Advo-
cate General’s office will
be reserved for Sched-
uled Caste. These posts
will be filled up in the
coming days, he said.
“When I took oath as
chief minister, I asked
my officers whether
there was any provision
of reservation in the ap-
pointment of law offic-
ers in the Advocate Gen-
eral’s office and they re-
plied in the negative.
“When I asked them
whetherwecanwemake
such a provision, they
saidthegovernmentcan
take such a decision,”
Mann said in a video
message. These addi-
tional 58 posts will be
reservedforSCs,hesaid.
Punjab govt introduces
reservation for SC in
posts of law officers
CM BASAVARAJA BOMMAI REFUSESTO COMMENT ON
SIDDARAMAIAH’S REPENTANCE ON LINGAYAT ISSUE
TMC,BJP workers clash
amid polling in Asansol
Asansol (Agencies):
Clashes reportedly
erupted between
BJP and Trinamool
Congress workers amid
the municipal corpora-
tionbyelectionsat Asan-
sol (ward 6) and Bon-
gaon (ward 14) in West
Bengal on Sunday
. Vot-
ing began at 7 am amid
tight security
.
BJP MLA Laxman
Ghoruialleged,“Wehad
come to see whether
polling was going on
peacefully or not, but
TMC supporters at-
tacked us. TMC is rig-
ging votes being cast.”
As per report, a scuf-
fle broke out at two poll-
ing booths in Bongaon
constituency as well.
BJP workers have re-
portedly alleged that
some goons from the
TMC had been obstruct-
ing the polling process
by looting votes. Addi-
tional police force had to
be rushed to the spot af-
ter Swapan Majumder,
BJPMLAfromBongaon
South, and a few women
supporters of the party
were allegedly beaten
up by TMC workers.
New Delhi (PTI): Uni-
versities and higher ed-
ucation institutions
across India will now be
allowed to create up to
25%supernumerary
seats for foreign stu-
dents in their UG and
PG programmes, UGC
chairman Jagadesh Ku-
mar said.
There will be no en-
trance tests for these
admissions, Kumar
said, adding the deci-
sion was taken at a
meeting of the Univer-
sityGrantsCommission
to discuss “internation-
alisation of UG and PG
programmes in India.”
The supernumerary
seats will be created
over and above the total
sanctioned strength and
the decision regarding
these seats will be taken
by concerned higher
education institutions
according to specific
guidelines and regula-
tions issued by the regu-
latory bodies consider-
ing infrastructure, fac-
ulty and other require-
ments.
Bengaluru (ANI): Kar-
nataka CM Basavaraja
Bommai on Sunday
claimed he was unaware
of the repentance of LoP
in State Legislative As-
semblySiddaramaiahon
the Lingayat religion is-
sue. Talking to reporters
in Vidhana Soudha, the
CM declined to comment
on it but volunteered to
add that the people of
Karnataka are aware of
what transpired regard-
ingtheLingayatreligion.
Itwasatalkheldbetween
Siddaramaiah and Sri
PrasannaVeeraSomesh-
wara Swamiji of Ramb-
hapuri Mutt.
‘Adventure sport...
will hold talks with ex-
perts in the field and
institutes to frame rules
and regulations for the
game and qualifica-
tions, the minister said.
He also defended the
movetoconstructmetro
car shed at Aarey near
Sanjay Gandhi National
Park in Mumbai.
The national park is
spread over 12,000 hec-
tares, of which Aarey
colony covers 1,300 hec-
tares and 30 hectares
are being used for the
Metro 3 car shed and it
will be surrounded by
roads on three sides, Sa-
mant said.
Citing that the land
was originally owned by
the state dairy develop-
ment corporation and
not the forest ministry,
the minister claimed
that since the beginning
of the project, some mis-
conceptions were being
spread among people.
FROM PG 1
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
YE AAP NAHI,
PAAP HAI: BJP
KEJRIWAL HITS
OUT AT CENTRE
CBI issues ‘Look Out Circular’
for 13 including Delhi Dy CM
New Delhi (ANI): In a
latest development in
connection with the liq-
our scam, the CBI has
issued a Look Out Cir-
cular (LOC) against 14
accused including Del-
hi’s Deputy CM Manish
Sisodia. This has been
done to stop them flying
abroad. During the
searches, CBI could not
find two accused. The
CBI has made Sisodia
as accused number one
in its FIR.
ED to file money
laundering case
The ED is likely to file a
money laundering case
against Delhi Deputy
CM Manish Sisodia in
connection with the al-
leged corruption over
the implementation of
the Delhi liquour policy
.
Manish Sisodia talks to the media regarding the CBI look-out
notice issued against him, at his residence in Delhi on Sunday.
BJP on Sunday attacked
AAP supremo, “Handcuffs
are getting closer to Delhi
CM Arvind Kejriwal as
nodes of corruption are
being unravelled,” said
BJP national spokesper-
son Gaurav Bhatia at a
presser on Sunday.
Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday
hit out at the Bharatiya
Janata Party-led Central
Government, accusing
it of ‘fighting with the
whole country’ instead
of fighting inflation and
unemployment.

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 52,150.00 00.00 0.00 (Per 10g)
SILVER 55,600.00 100.00 0.17 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 79.78 0.09 0.1129
GBPINR 94.7333 1.4359 1.4931
CURRENCIES
Housingsalestobreachpre-pandemiclevels
New Delhi (PTI): India’s
residential market is ex-
pected to sustain demand
momentum despite rise in
mortgage and property
rates as sales this year
across the top 7 cities are
likely to breach pre-pan-
demic level of 2.62 lakh
units,industryplayerssaid.
After braving four back-
to-back disruptions in form
of demonetisation, RERA,
GST and COVID-19 in the
last 6 years, industry ex-
perts feel the housing mar-
ket is going through a lot of
structural changes and is
now at the start of a long-
term upcycle.
Homebuyers body FPCE
gives credit to the Real Es-
tate Regulatory Authority
(RERA) under the Real Es-
tate (Regulation Develop-
ment) Act, 2016 for this im-
proved buying sentiment.
All major listed real
estate developers
posted record sales
bookings in the
last fiscal and
have given
g u i d a n c e
that their
sales num-
bers in
FY’23 will
be even
better.
However, if the overall
market is taken into ac-
count and not just listed
entities, the RBI’s decision
to hike interest rates by a
cumulative 140 basis points
and banks passing on this
increase to home loan bor-
rowers have slowed down
sales mometum slightly
.
Increase in housing pric-
es also had some impact,
according to industry ex-
perts.
Prices rose by an aver-
age 5% annually in the
June quarter due to high-
er input costs, especial-
ly that of cement and
steel.
MARKET TO SUSTAIN DEMAND MOMENTUM
HOUSING PRICES
RISE IN JUNE QTR

z Prices rose by an average
5% annually in the June
quarter due to higher
input costs,
especially that
of cement and
steel.
IKEA PLANS TO OPEN
SMALL CITY OUTLETS
IN INDIA
New Delhi: Swedish furniture
retailer IKEA plans to open
small city outlets along with its
mega format
stores in India
supported by
online chan-
nel, tweaking
its strategy in the wake of
changing consumer behaviour,
according to a senior company
official. The company had en-
visaged setting up 10 furnish-
ing and home-ware stores as
well as allied infrastructure in
over 10 years in India. —PTI
CENTRAL BANK OF
INDIA LIKELY TO EXIT
PCA FRAMEWORK SOON
New Delhi: Central Bank of
India, the only public sector
lender under the RBI’s prompt
corrective
action (PCA)
framework,
may see an
exit from
restrictions soon following an
improvement in its financial
health. The bank has already
made a representation to the
RBI based on the improve-
ment in financial parameters
on a sustained basis for the
past five quarters. —PTI
DEBT MUTUAL FUNDS
CONTINUE TO SEE
OUTFLOW
New Delhi: Investors contin-
ued to withdraw from mutual
funds focused on investing in
fixed-income
securities for
third consecu-
tive quarter
and pulled
out over `70,000 crore in
April-June due to high inflation
and an increasing rate cycle.
The latest outflow has pulled
down the asset managed by
fund managers for debt fixed-
income funds by 5% to `12.35
lakh crore at June-end. —PTI
GOVT TWEAKS OFFICE
ADDRESS
VERIFICATION RULES
New Delhi: The government
has amended rules to ensure a
transparent process for physi-
cal verification
of addresses
of the regis-
tered offices
of companies,
including by way of having
independent witnesses at the
time of the verification. The
steps listed out in the new
rules will help do away with
discretion of authorities as
well as put in place a transpar-
ent system. —PTI
DICGC TO MAKE PAYMENTS TO DEPOSITORS OF 17
CO-OP BANKS IN OCTOBER
Mumbai: The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation
(DICGC) will be making payments to the eligible depositors of 17
cooperative banks, including eight from
Maharashtra, in October. The Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) had imposed several
restrictions, including on withdrawals,
by depositors of these 17 banks in July
in view of their deteriorating financial
positions. Of the 17 cooperative banks,
eight are in Maharashtra, four in Uttar
Pradesh, two in Karnataka, and one each in New Delhi, Andhra
Pradesh and West Bengal. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: Five of the
top-10 valued firms to-
gether lost `30,737.51
crore in market valuation
last week, with RIL taking
the biggest hit. While RIL,
TCS, ICICI Bank, SBI and
Bajaj Finance were the
laggards from the top-10
pack, HDFC Bank, Info-
sys, HUL, HDFC and LIC
were the gainers. The val-
uation of RIL declined by
`12,883.7 crore to
`17,68,144.77 crore. But
despite that in the ranking
of top-10 firms, RIL re-
mained the most valued
company, followed by
TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys,
HUL, ICICI Bank, State
Bank of India, HDFC, Bajaj
Finance and LIC. —PTI
New Delhi: After turning
net buyers last month,
foreign investors have
shown tremendous en-
thusiasm for Indian equi-
ties and have infused
close to `44,500 crore in
August so far. This was
way higher than a net in-
vestment of nearly `5,000
crore by FPIs in entire
July. According to data,
FPIs pumped in a net
amount of `44,481 crore
in Indian equities during
August 1-19. This is the
highest investment made
by them so far in the cur-
rent year. —PTI
FPIs PUMP IN
`44,500 CRORE INTO
INDIAN EQUITIES
MCAP OF FIVE TOP
FIRMS DOWN BY
`30,737.51 CRORE
New Delhi: Defence PSU
Garden Reach Shipbuild-
ers and Engineers Ltd is
making 7 vessels for for-
eign countries, out of the
23 ships that are in the
different stages of con-
struction, its CMD Com-
modore (retd) PR Hari
said. GRSE, which bagged
prestigious `19,294-cr or-
der for construction of 3
advanced stealth frigates
for the Indian Navy, has
already launched two of
these ships and the con-
struction of the third one
is in full swing. —PTI
‘GRSE MAKING
SEVEN VESSELS FOR
FOREIGN COUNTRIES’
New Delhi: State-owned
Oil and Natural Gas Cor-
poration (ONGC) is pre-
paring for a record third
interim chairman as no
full-time head of India’s
most profitable company
has yet been selected in
17 months since the post
fell vacant, sources said.
ONGC is without a regular
chairman and managing
director since April 2021.
The third interim chair-
man - a record for Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation -
is being talked about as
the government is yet to
even identify a full-time
head. —PTI
ONGC PREPARES
FOR 3rd INTERIM
CHAIRMAN
*Rates till the edition went to print.
NO PLANS TO IMPORT
WHEAT INTO INDIA
New Delhi (PTI): The gov-
ernment has no plans to
import wheat as it has suf-
ficient stocks to meet the
country’s requirements,
official sources said.
The Food Corporation of
India (FCI) has enough
stock for public distribu-
tion, they added.
“There are no plans to
import wheat into India.
The country has sufficient
stocks to meet our domes-
tic requirements,” a source
said. The comments come
against the backdrop of
some reports which said
India may import the
foodgrain.
India’s wheat production
is projected to have de-
clined nearly 3% to 106.84
million tonnes while the
overall foodgrain produc-
tion is estimated to have
touched record 315.72 mil-
lion tonnes in the 2021-22
crop year.
Wheat production is esti-
mated to have declined due
to a heatwave that resulted
in shrivelled grains in the
northern states of Punjab
and Haryana.
According to the fourth
advance estimate for the
2021-22 crop year released
by the agriculture minis-
try recently, record output
is estimated for rice,
maize, gram, pulses, rape-
seed and mustard, oilseeds
and sugarcane.
A wheat flour millers’
body earlier this month de-
manded that the govern-
ment scrap the 40% import
duty on wheat to boost do-
mestic supplies and control
prices. The federation’s
President Anjani Agarwal
has said the price of wheat
has increased by `300-350/
quintal in the last 15 days.
ACCORDING TO GOVT SOURCES
TOP TALKING
POINTS

z India’s wheat production
is projected to have declined
nearly 3% to 106.84 million
tonnes while the overall
foodgrain production is
estimated to have touched
record 315.72 million tonnes.

z Wheat production is
estimated to have declined due
to a heatwave that resulted in
shrivelled grains in Punjab and
Haryana.

z However, record output is
estimated for rice, maize, gram,
pulses, rapeseed and mustard,
oilseeds and sugarcane.
New Delhi (PTI): With no
major domestic market
moving triggers this week,
equities would continue to
look at global factors, for-
eign fund movement and
trend in the rupee for fur-
ther direction, analysts
said.
“This week we have the
August month FO expiry
where bulls are looking for
rest after a gain in the Au-
gust series,” said Santosh
Meena, Head of Research,
Swastika Investmart Ltd.
“There are not a lot of
triggers but global cues,
August month FO expiry,
and FIIs’ behaviour will be
important factors in the di-
rection of the market,” he
noted.
With the quarterly earn-
ings season coming to an
end, markets’ focus would
also move to the movement
of the international oil
benchmark Brent crude,
apart from China-US geo-
political tensions and the
Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Global trends,
FIIs’ behaviour
to direct market
movement
New Delhi (PTI): The
road transport and high-
ways sector has the maxi-
mum number of delayed
projects at 300, followed by
railways at 119 and petro-
leum sector at 90, showed a
government report.
In the road transport and
highways sector, 300 out of
825 projects are delayed. In
railways, out of 173 pro-
jects, 119 are delayed, while
for petroleum, 90 out of 142
projects are delayed, as per
the latest flash report on
infrastructure projects for
June 2022.
About the road transport
and highways sector, the re-
port stated that total origi-
nal cost of implementation
of 825 projects when sanc-
tioned, was `4,90,792.42
crore. This was subsequent-
ly anticipated at `5,37,163.29
crore, implying a cost over-
run of 9.4%.
The expenditure in-
curred on these projects till
June 2022 was `3,21,084.28
crore, which is 59.8% of
their anticipated cost.
About railways, it said
the total original cost of
implementation of 173 pro-
jects when sanctioned, was
`3,72,761.45 crore, which
laterincreasedto`6,12,578.9
crore, implying a cost over-
run of 64.3%.
The expenditure in-
curred on these projects till
June 2022 was `3,29,682.13
crore, or 53.8% of the an-
ticipated cost.
Maximumnumberof
delayedprojectsinroad
transporthighwayssec
LIC Mutual Fund aims to enter
big boys’ club in next five years
IN CATCH-UP GAME
Mumbai (PTI): LIC Mu-
tual Fund, having missed
the growth bus in the past
three decades of opera-
tions, is on a catch-up bid
and has set a target of
crossing the `1-lakh-crore-
AUM-mark in the next five
years.
The past few years have
seen the 43-player mutual
fund industry growing at
an exponential pace both in
terms of Assets under
management (AUM) and
number of folios.
The AUM jumped 14%
on-year in June 2022 to
`37.74 lakh crore, while the
number of folios grew to an
all-time high of 13.55 crore.
Biggest player SBI Mu-
tual Fund cemented its po-
sition with 23.7% growth in
AUM at `6.47 lakh crore in
the month under review,
followed by ICICI Pruden-
tial MF at `4.65 lakh crore.
However, LIC Mutual
Fund, all through its
33-plus-years of opera-
tions, first as a joint ven-
ture with Nomura of Ja-
pan, was never in the reck-
oning in terms of AUM
despite being the subsidi-
ary of LIC — the nation’s
largest financial power-
house. But the present
management is changing
that and has unveiled a
five-year growth plan
wherein by FY27, it wants
to be in the `1 lakh-crore-
AUM bracket.
“We’ve chalked out a
five-year growth plan. We
should be growing by 3.5-4x
or at least take our AUM
past the `1-lakh-crore-mark
by FY27 from where we are
now.”
“To begin with, we ex-
pect to grow at least 70%
this fiscal to touch `30,000
crore AUM, aided by new
fund launches and also
partly aided by the forth-
coming merger of the IDBI
AMC with us,” TS Ram-
akrishnan, MD CEO,
said.
LIC SEES 20% DECLINE
IN DEATH CLAIMS
New Delhi: Insurance behemoth
LIC witnessed a decline of nearly
20% in death claims in the first
quarter of this fiscal with the
COVID impact seen to be ebbing,
though the amount is still higher
than pre-2020 levels, officials
said.In the June quarter of the
previous fiscal, settlement of
death claims was to the tune of
`7,111 crore, which for Q1 of
this year was `5,743 crore, LIC
Chairman M R Kumar said.
One 97 Communications
Ltd., the par-
ent entity
which runs
digital pay-
ments compa-
ny Paytm, said
that 99.67% of its share-
holders who voted ap-
proved the resolution to
reappoint founder Vijay
Shekhar Sharma as MD of
the company for five years
from Dec 19, 2022 to Dec 18,
2027. Paytm said that all the
7 resolutions were duly
passed with over 94% of
votes cast in their favour.
Vijay Shekhar
reappointed as
Paytm MD
New Delhi (PTI): The hike
in interest rates has not yet
impacted demand for vehi-
cles but the real picture
will emerge once the semi-
conductor shortage issue is
addressed and production
gets normalised, according
to a senior official of Maru-
ti Suzuki India. Theoreti-
cally speaking, it should
have a negative impact be-
cause interest rates going
up (have an impact on) dis-
cretionary spending,
which also includes spend-
ing on cars...But at the mo-
ment that we are not feel-
ing that, MSIL Senior Ex-
ecutive Officer said.
No impact of Interest rate hikes: Maruti

First India Bureau
Mumbai:IqbalKaskar,
the jailed brother of
fugitive gangster Da-
wood Ibrahim, was ad-
mitted to the govern-
ment-run JJ Hospital
in Mumbai after he
complained of chest
pain, an official said
on Sunday
.
Kaskar was rushed
to the hospital on Sat-
urday from the Taloja
jail in neighbouring
Navi Mumbai and is
undergoing treatment
in the medical facili-
ty’s cardiac depart-
ment, the official said.
The Enforcement Di-
rectorate had arrested
Kaskar in February
this year in connection
with a money-launder-
ing case.
The ED had taken
him in custody from
the Taloja jail where he
was lodged in connec-
tion with multiple ex-
tortion cases regis-
tered against him. He
had later been remand-
ed in judicial custody.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The state
witnessed 1,832 COV-
ID-19 cases and two
fatalities on Sunday
,
taking the tally to
80,84,383 and the toll
to 1,48,195, a health of-
ficial said.
Of the new cases,
Mumbai Circle led with
1,259, followed by Pune
Circle (295), Nashik Cir-
cle (78), Nagpur Circle
(100), Kolhapur Circle
(39), Latur Circle (32),
Aurangabad Circle (16)
and Akola Circle (13).
Mumbai city and Sat-
ara accounted for the
day’s two fatalities. The
recovery count in-
creased by 2,055 in 24
hours and touched
79,24,547, leaving the
state with an active case-
load of 11,641. Mumbai
accounts for 5,761 active
cases, followed by 1,925
in Thane and 1,579 in
Pune, he said.
Sandip Kolhatkar
Pune: Renuka Dengle,
from a small village in
Pune, was five months
pregnant when a ven-
omous saw-scaled vi-
per snake bit her
while she was work-
ing at a farm a couple
of years ago.
The 24-year-old wom-
an’s relatives took her
to a local exorcist and a
couple of local govern-
ment hospitals but she
could not get proper
treatment.
As Dengle’s condi-
tion worsened, she was
rushed to Vighnahar
Nursing Clinic—run
by a doctor couple who
claim to have so far
saved more than 5,500
snakebite victims—in
Pune’s Narayangaon
town.
As a lot of time has
been wasted, the wom-
an in a bad condition
with swelling all over
her body by the time
she was brought in, Dr
Sadanand Raut, who
and his wife are work-
ing on a “zero snake-
bite death” mission,
recalls.
“We immediately ad-
ministered anti-snake
venom and started
treatment. The woman
responded and she gave
birth to a healthy baby
girl a few months lat-
er,” he said.
“With 58,000 snake-
bite deaths in India
every year, the country
leads in such casual-
ties,” said Dr Raut, who
is also a member of the
World Health Organi-
zation’s (WHO’s) roster
of experts for snake-
bite envenoming.
The doctor had origi-
nally planned to set up
a heart and diabetes
hospital, but changed
his mind after the
death of a girl by
snakebite. “My wife
and I decided to work
on snakebites—an eve-
ryday reality for those
who living in rural
parts,” he said.
As the topic was not
taught at length during
the medical course,
they started research-
ing and took the help of
experts like noted trop-
ical medicine expert Dr
David Warrell and
started treating people
from rural parts of
Junnar tehsil in Pune,
he said.
The initial challenge
was to discourage peo-
ple from visiting exor-
cists and faith healers
as a lot of myths and
misconceptions were
attached to snakebites.
“While making our
hospital equipped with
facilities like ventila-
tors, defibrillators, anti-
snake venom doses and
trained staff to treat pa-
tients, we stressed on
busting myths and dis-
couraged superstitious
methods used in treat-
ing snakebites in rural
areas,” he said.
They have also been
creating awareness
among people that pre-
vention is the key to
avoiding snakebite in-
cidents, he added.
08
2NDFRONT
When everyone leaves, you will only
have yourself so always remain true
to who you are.
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
First India Bureau
Mumbai: An interna-
tional-level standard
sports ground in
Ghatkopar area in
Mumbai has been de-
veloped with the aid
of Bharat Petroleum
Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and
International Ama-
teur Athletics Fed-
eration (IAAF now
known as World Ath-
letics), a senior offi-
cial said on Sunday.
Quaisar Khalid, Po-
lice Commissioner of
Mumbai Railways said
that the aim of the
ground was to provide
a ‘ground’ where the
police force can main-
tain its fitness. A mem-
bership drive among
common citizens will
bring in the much-
needed funds, he added.
“The international
level sports ground
was inaugurated on
the eve of Independ-
ence Day at Ghatkopar.
It is spread over
6,000sqm and includes
a 400m running track,
hurdles, arena for
events such as javelin,
long and high jumps.
The venue also houses
a FIFA-level football
ground and a basket-
ball court, swimming
pool and hockey
ground,” Khalid in-
formed. the press.
“The ground has
been constructed with
the help of BPCL,
while IAAF is monitor-
ing the developmental
works over here. Soon,
a membership drive
will be initiated for
common people, which
will help us get some
funds. All facilities
will be free for the po-
lice personnel, the of-
ficial added.
Iqbal Kaskar being taken into
custody by the ED in February.
—PHOTO BY ANI
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Union Minis-
ter for Road Transport
and Highways, Nitin
Gadkari on Sunday
said that we have to
take Indian infra-
structure to world
standards. The Minis-
ter was addressing Na-
tional Conference for
Civil Engineers and
Professionals from Al-
lied Industries, being
organized by Associa-
tion of Consulting
Civil Engineers
(ACCE) in Mumbai.
He said, “I have de-
cided to make Indian
road infrastructure,
even in Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh, up to the road
infrastructure stand-
ards of USA, before end
of 2024.”
“In Indian infrastruc-
ture, there is huge po-
tential for road con-
struction, river connec-
tivity, solid and liquid
waste management,
parking plaza, irriga-
tion, busports, rope-
ways and cable car pro-
jects,” he added.
Speaking about vari-
ous ongoing projects of
the Ministry of Road,
Transport and High-
way Gadkari said, “We
are making 26 Green
Express Highways and
Logistics parks of Rs2
lakh crore. At the same
time, we have many in-
novative ideas by which
we can develop infra-
structure further.”
Union Transport
Minister further said
that the future of Indi-
an infrastructure sec-
tor is very bright. The
Minister underlined
the role of civil engi-
neers and said it is very
important for job crea-
tion and for growth.
Pitching his idea of
using greener alterna-
tives in road construc-
tion, Union Transport
minister said: “You
should find alternatives
to cement and other raw
materials. Glass fibre
steel can be used in
place of steel. If there is
competition, cost will
come down and become
reasonable.”
Propagating the idea
of use of alternative fu-
els, Gadkari said Green
hydrogen is future fuel.
He said hydrogen can
be made from petrole-
um, coal and biomass,
organic waste and sew-
age water. He further
said, “My dream is to
make green hydrogen
available at Rs1/kg
which can be used in
aviation, railway, bus,
truck, chemical and fer-
tilizer industry instead
of coal and petroleum.”
We need to accept good technology, research, innovation and
successful practices from across the world and from within
India. We should use alternative materials to reduce cost
without compromising on quality. Time is the most important aspect
in construction, it is the biggest asset. —Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister
We ask
people to
wear
gumboots and
gloves while
working, avoid
sleeping on the
floor and use beds
with nets….
Deaths due to
snakebite can be
prevented if a pa-
tient is brought to
a nearest health
facility for an-
ti-snake venom
administration.
It is crucial to ad-
minister the dose
within the golden
hour period.
—-Dr Sadanand Raut
Doc couple on mission to prevent snakebite deaths, bust myths
PROPER TREATMENT
Terming it a
rural hazard,
WHO aims to
halve snakebite
deaths by 2030
Dr Raut conducts a workshop of Asha workers to create awareness about snakebite cases in rural areas, in Pune. —PHOTO BY PTI
Wehavetomakeinfraupto
worldstandards: Gadkari
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: The dilem-
ma over the appoint-
ment of party pres-
ident in Congress
continues as Ra-
hul Gandhi is
still reluctant to
assume the of-
fice. As per party
sources, the deci-
sion will be taken
soon regarding the
post of Congress
President.
Recently, KC Venu-
gopal and Rahul
G a n d h i
m e t
and Sonia Gandhi also
met Rahul at his resi-
dence in connection
with the post of Na-
tional President. But
Rahul Gandhi is learnt
to have not agreed to
assume the post.
In such a situation,
the big challenge be-
fore the Congress is to
find an-
other name on which
all the members of the
party agree. The CWC
meeting may be called
soon to discuss the
matter although there
is no schedule for the
meeting till August 24.
Rahul has also cate-
gorically refused the
post repeatedly. But a
camp is still active in
persuading him.
When Rahul was
taken into police cus-
tody during the August
5 protest, all the senior
and youth leaders pre-
sent with him, talked
in one voice about Ra-
hul accepting the post
of the National Presi-
dent. But at that mo-
ment also, Rahul had
refused in front of eve-
ryone to accept this
post.
With Rahul still reluctant,
party may have to hunt
for another suitable Prez
The CWC
meeting may
be called soon
to discuss the
matter
DILEMMA CONTINUES...
‘Huge potential for road building, river connectivity, waste management,
parking plazas, irrigation, busports, ropeways and cable car projects’
Dawood’s brother Kaskar
in hosp after chest pain
1,832 cases, 2 deaths;
active nCoV tally 11,641
Rlypolicegetnewsportsground
Quaisar Khalid, Police Commissioner of Mumbai Railway inaugurated the facility.
H1N1 CLAIMS 15
Rahul Gandhi

P
opular comedian Raju Srivastava is
still in the ICU and on a ventilator.
The comedian suffered a heart at-
tack on August 10. His health is go-
ing through many ups and downs. Now we
have learnt that he is still in serious con-
dition. He is being treated
at AIIMS hospital in
New Delhi. According
to AIIMS Director
Randeep Guleria,
Raju Srivastava is
still in the ICU as
millions pray for
his fast recovery.
The director re-
fused tocomment
further and said
that it is a personal matter. Yes-
terday, Raju’s younger brother
Deepu Srivastava shared a video
to inform fans
that things are
slowly get-
ting bet-
ter on
Raju’s
end.
K
areena Kapoor
Khan is one of
the most suc-
cessful and
talented actresses in
Bollywood. Recent-
ly, Kareena ap-
peared on the latest
episode of India’s
first courtroom
comedy Case Toh
Banta Hai and joked
that her character
Geet increased the In-
dian Railways revenue
after Jab We Met. During
the episode, Kareena said,
“Mere Geet play karne ke
baad harem pants ki sale
aur Indian Railways ki rev-
enue, dono badh gayi hai
by the way (After I played
Geet, the sale of harem
pants and revenues of
Indian Railways both
have increased by
the way).” Case
Toh Banta Hai
starcast in-
cludes Riteish
Deshmukh,
Varun Shar-
ma and Ku-
sha Kapila.
D
ia Mirza and
Vaibhav Rekhi
are one of the
most loved-up
couples in Bollywood.
On Sunday it was Vaib-
hav’s birthday and Dia
took to her social media
handle to pen the sweet-
est birthday wish for
her husband.
The Rehna Hai Terre
Dil Mein actress shared
a picture with Vaibhav
from their wedding day
andcaptionedit:“Happy
Birthday Husband. May
you always laugh loud-
est, give selflessly and
care deeply
. You are love
@vaibhav.rekhi. And we
are so lucky to have you
in our lives. Keep grow-
ing and spreading joy
.
Photo by our dearest @
rohanshrestha.” In the
photo, Dia wore a bright
red saree with intricate
golden embroidery all
over and thick golden
borders. Vaibhav, on the
other hand, was dressed
in a white kurta and
matching Nehru jacket.
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
arhan Akhtar and Shiba-
ni Dandekar are one of
the cutest couples in Bol-
lywood. They never hesi-
tate in expressing their
love for each other either
be it on social media or
otherwise. Shibani had been
sharing pictures and vide-
os from a wedding that
she is attending with
her sister Anusha
Dandekar. And
now it looks like
Farhan is there
to join them.
He shared
an adora-
ble picture of the two and we can-
not stop gushing over them. Tak-
ing to his Instagram stories,
Farhan Akhtar shared a picture
with Shibani Dandekar. Farhan
looked happy in a dark blue hood-
ie and black pants while Shibani
looked cute in an oversized
checks cloak. She hugged
her hubby sideways as
they posed on the
streets. Sharing
this picture,
Farhan wrote,
“My Checked
Mate” with
a heart
emoji.
F
Checked mate
B
ipasha Basu and
Karan Singh Grov-
er are experienc-
ing one of the best
phases of their lives. The
couple had shared a pic-
ture from their pregnan-
cy photoshoot to share this
good news with fans and yet
again the actress has shared a
new video which consists of
several new pictures from
their pregnancy photoshoot.
In the video that Bipasha
Basu shared, we can see a col-
lage of several adorable pic-
tures. Both Karan Singh
Grover and Bipasha Basu are
dressed in white shirts and
can be seen flaunting her
pregnant belly. The Raaz ac-
tress can be seen glowing in
these pictures and looks abso-
lutely stunning as she smiles.
Karan on the other hand,
cannot stop looking at his
gorgeous wife and kissing
her baby bump. Sharing
this reel, Bipasha wrote,
“#monkeylove #parentstobe
#loveyourself #loveyour-
body #blessed #grateful.”
Pregnancy
GLOW
MUMBAI, MONDAY,
AUGUST 22, 2022
Hubby’s birthday
K
iara Advani
is one of
the most
p o p u l a r
and talented ac-
tresses in the tinsel
town of Bollywood.
Just a few hours ago,
the actress was spot-
ted outside a salon. In
the pictures, Kiara chose
a stunning ensem-
ble, which came
in soothing
white colour
and featured
frills on it. The actress' dress
came with spaghetti straps
and a figure-hugging bod-
ice with ruched details. Ki-
ara chose to ditch all acces-
sorieswithheroutfit,thus
allowing the dress to be
the star of her look. Ki-
ara also acknowledged
the media and obliged
them with photos too.
STILLCRITICAL
INCREASEDINDIAN
RAILWAY
REVENUE
EASY-BREEZY
WHITE MAXI
Shibani Dandekar
Farhan’s post...
Kiara Advani
Raju Srivastava
Spotted...
Kareena Kapoor Khan
Dia Mirza
Her post...
Her post...
Bipasha Basu

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22082022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

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